Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Lessened by Circle Wealth Management LLC

Circle Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 185,345 shares of the company’s stock after selling 718 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.4% of Circle Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Circle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $18,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade 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 this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.93 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.72. 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) last issued its earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 repurchase 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.

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.