Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 6,357 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 38,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,451,000 after buying an additional 7,115 shares during the period. Broyhill Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% during the first quarter. Broyhill Asset Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 257,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,076,000 after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $1,565,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:MRK opened at $106.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $264.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $106.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.13.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.