Auxano Advisors LLC Has $1.49 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Auxano Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,648 shares of the company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352,256 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,289,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after buying an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE MRK traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $129.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,798,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,299,421. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $126.46 and a 200 day moving average of $116.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.50, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.