ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 591,067 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 89,745 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $58,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CGN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. TI Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,973,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,978,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. This 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 the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:MRK opened at $74.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $187.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.51. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue 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 forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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, TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.19.

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.