Cardiff Park Advisors LLC Sells 283 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cardiff Park Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,617 shares of the company’s stock after selling 283 shares during the quarter. Cardiff Park Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $17,799,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Baldwin Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 8,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,505,000. Finally, Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $83.14 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.53 and its 200-day moving average is $94.11. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $209.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.93 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Twelve equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.13.

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.