Golden State Equity Partners Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Golden State Equity Partners boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5,303.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,982 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,242 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.8% of Golden State Equity Partners' portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Golden State Equity Partners' holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Five Oceans Advisors raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 4,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $461,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 39,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,943,000 after buying an additional 2,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,587,000 after buying an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $98.80 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $249.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $99.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.

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