Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Has $23.47 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,878 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,645 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $721,782,000 after buying an additional 518,270 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the company's stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,812 shares of the company's stock worth $2,591,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the third quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 16,457 shares of the company's stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.4% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,057 shares of the company's stock worth $12,540,000 after purchasing an additional 14,780 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.23. The stock had a trading volume of 13,806,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,993,029. The company has a market cap of $214.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $86.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.77. 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 fifty-two week low of $75.93 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.