Voleon Capital Management LP Takes $5.25 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 52,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,252,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after buying an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 16,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,540,000 after buying an additional 14,780 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE MRK opened at $84.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.93 and a one year high of $134.63. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $86.94 and its 200-day moving average is $94.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’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 business posted $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.