5,848 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Bought by St. Clair Advisors LLC

St. Clair Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $582,000.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $76.08 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’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 value 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 trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.19.

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.