6,615 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Acquired by Aspire Growth Partners LLC

Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 6,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 1,310,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,413,000 after acquiring an additional 76,424 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $243,000. AlTi Global Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 21,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the period. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,409,000. Finally, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 10,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

MRK stock opened at $83.14 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.93 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a market cap of $209.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.13.

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.