Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1,400.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 441,642 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 412,209 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $43,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company's stock worth $721,782,000 after purchasing an additional 518,270 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the company's stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,812 shares of the company's stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the third quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 16,457 shares of the company's stock worth $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.4% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,057 shares of the company's stock worth $12,540,000 after acquiring an additional 14,780 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.23. 13,806,674 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,993,029. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.86 and a 200-day moving average of $94.70. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.93 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $214.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Twelve investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.