EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 17,910 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 199,213 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,910 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $19,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock worth $24,979,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

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

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.88. The company had a trading volume of 15,605,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,159,918. The company has a market capitalization of $190.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.31. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.83 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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 dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.13.

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.