Family Management Corp Acquires 1,614 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Family Management Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,279 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the quarter. Family Management Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after buying an additional 2,026,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.09 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $198.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.93 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $85.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.