Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Has $170.63 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 99.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,715,221 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 855,324 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.1% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $170,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,601,000 after buying an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% in 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 buying an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $77.16 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $83.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $193.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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