Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 20,747 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,392 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,747 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company 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 report on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $77.81. The company had a trading volume of 11,790,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,496,405. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.79. The company has a market capitalization of $195.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.