Gen Wealth Partners Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Gen Wealth Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,163 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 downgraded shares of 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 note on Tuesday, February 18th. Twelve 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $75.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.82 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $190.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm 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 posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.