Pacific Center for Financial Services Acquires 500 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pacific Center for Financial Services increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,526 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. TI Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 2,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $76.89 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $193.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.