Novem Group Buys New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Novem Group bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 38,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,814,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC now owns 10,380 shares of the company's stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,408 shares of the company's stock worth $48,288,000 after acquiring an additional 62,801 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 44,894 shares of the company's stock worth $4,466,000 after acquiring an additional 6,614 shares during the period. CSS LLC IL lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. CSS LLC IL now owns 16,045 shares of the company's stock worth $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,840 shares during the period. Finally, Ames National Corp bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $969,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business'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 directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $77.92 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The business's fifty day moving average is $82.80 and its 200 day moving average is $91.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.19.

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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