Fred Alger Management LLC Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 77.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,128 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company's stock worth $2,408,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550,824 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $4.31 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.28. 21,754,867 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,224,069. The company has a market cap of $201.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $85.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.13. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.57 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

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.