Banque Transatlantique SA Acquires New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,505,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $3.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.11. 16,252,062 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,078,543. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.93. The stock has a market cap of $199.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.93 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.