Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.