Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,894 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,614 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $76.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'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 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

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.

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