Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 591,067 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 89,745 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $58,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,525 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% in the fourth 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. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company's stock worth $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 22,775 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company 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 decreased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MRK traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $77.16. The company had a trading volume of 11,677,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,443,082. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $83.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.17. 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 has a market capitalization of $193.75 billion, a P/E 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 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy 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 stock is 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.