Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,776,853 shares of the company's stock after selling 512,124 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $176,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Napatree Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,601,000 after purchasing an additional 8,461 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 22,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 632,355 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,907,000 after purchasing an additional 10,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $194.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50-day moving average is $81.76 and its 200-day moving average is $91.46. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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