Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Has $7.84 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 963.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,800 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 71,393 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,911 shares of the company's stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 363,832 shares of the company's stock worth $36,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 9,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 15,978 shares of the company's stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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 Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Thirteen investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MRK traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $77.16. 11,677,212 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,443,082. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.46 and a 200-day moving average of $92.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally 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.