AlphaCore Capital LLC Has $2.38 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

AlphaCore Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,561 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 32,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,204,000 after acquiring an additional 7,612 shares during the last quarter. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $899,000. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 2,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Warm Springs Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $376,000. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $77.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $194.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.76 and a 200 day moving average of $91.46. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Securities 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 report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.