LPL Financial LLC Has $318.73 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,203,995 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 345,513 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.13% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $318,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock worth $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,262,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $2,080,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company's stock worth $933,761,000 after buying an additional 422,382 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,204,000 after buying an additional 34,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $117.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $4.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.88. 20,632,114 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,254,244. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.78.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.