GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 62,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,183,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Bank of America dropped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $194.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $81.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect 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 approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.

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