Neo Ivy Capital Management Sells 7,165 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Neo Ivy Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,165 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,165 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $365,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 861,944 shares of the company's stock worth $86,446,000 after purchasing an additional 52,070 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 68,080 shares of the company's stock worth $6,773,000 after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 21,667 shares of the company's stock worth $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the company's stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.10 and a 200 day moving average of $91.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-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 released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

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.

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