Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Bayesian Capital Management LP

Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,355 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $83.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.22. 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 1 year low of $75.93 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value 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 represents a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.