Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 1.8% - Here's What Happened

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $76.93 and last traded at $77.68. Approximately 3,546,572 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 12,068,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. TD Cowen downgraded 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $194.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was 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 $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 131.5% during the 1st quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 80,700 shares of the company's stock worth $7,244,000 after acquiring an additional 45,841 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 10,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 470.3% during the 1st quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 15,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,407,000 after buying an additional 12,928 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 53,957 shares of the company's stock worth $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% in the first quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 6,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.

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