Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc.

Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,827 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 186,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,504,000 after purchasing an additional 9,571 shares in the last quarter. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,670,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 15,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 9,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 363,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $100.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.