Keystone Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 73,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,380,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 5,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.9 %

MRK stock opened at $87.97 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.33 and a twelve month 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’s 50 day moving average is $99.31 and its 200-day moving average is $107.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

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.