Freedom Together Foundation Sells 54,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Freedom Together Foundation lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 80.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,317 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,000 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.1% of Freedom Together Foundation’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Freedom Together Foundation’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Elefante Mark B bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $338,000. Ethic Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 287,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,562,000 after purchasing an additional 25,372 shares during the last quarter. Family Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 38,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 14,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 10,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.13.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $75.88 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.82 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $190.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.