Sound Income Strategies LLC Buys 569 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,190 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $241,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $409,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,602.5% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 180,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,310,000 after purchasing an additional 169,621 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,006,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,832,000 after purchasing an additional 119,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,339,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,581,000 after buying an additional 149,979 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $99.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.