Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC Has $327,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,995 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.64.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $126.13. 6,187,325 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,462,223. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 905.36, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.