Axa S.A. Buys 76,424 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Axa S.A. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,310,947 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,424 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A. owned about 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $130,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

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Read Our Latest Research Report on MRK

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

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MRK opened at $83.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $209.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50-day moving average price is $86.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.93 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors 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.

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