Focus Partners Wealth Buys 14,163 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,024,606 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 14,163 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $112,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 4,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,349,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,242,000 after purchasing an additional 20,870 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 19,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 424.3% during the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 7,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 5,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 138,827 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,811,000 after purchasing an additional 14,093 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.24 on Wednesday, reaching $74.39. 11,622,393 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,267,895. The company has a market capitalization of $186.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.36 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm's 50-day moving average is $84.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.85. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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.