Fiduciary Trust Co Sells 13,344 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fiduciary Trust Co cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 415,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,344 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $41,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Family Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 38,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 14,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 10,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 325,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,409,000 after acquiring an additional 28,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diligent Investors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 17,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $77.65 on Friday. 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. has a twelve month low of $75.93 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.60 and a 200-day moving average of $93.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.