Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,234,000. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.2% of Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the second quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 5,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. King Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. King Wealth now owns 7,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 7,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $131.92. The stock had a trading volume of 10,188,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,807,398. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 942.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.