Axa S.A. Buys 76,424 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

AXA S.A. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,310,947 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 76,424 shares during the period. AXA S.A. owned about 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $130,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered shares of 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.14. 11,754,543 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,050,241. 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. has a one year low of $75.93 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.11. The company has a market cap of $209.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.