Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Lowered by Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 98.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,313 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,861 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $365,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 68,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,837,000 after acquiring an additional 18,685 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 626,593 shares of the company's stock worth $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 13,181 shares during the period. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 4,929 shares of the company's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock 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 issued 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.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 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 $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.92. The stock had a trading volume of 13,256,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,476,693. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. 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 plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are 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.