Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,427 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,525 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after purchasing an additional 8,461 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 22,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.09 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.93 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.72. The company has a market capitalization of $198.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.