<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Axa S.A. raised its stake in  Merck &amp; Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor  owned 1,310,947 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,424 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A. owned about 0.05% of Merck &amp; Co., Inc. worth $130,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.</p><div><p><span></span><span>Get <strong>Merck &amp; Co., Inc.</strong> alerts:</span></p></div><ul><li>Moderna: 4 Key Reasons the CEO Just Bought $5M in Shares</li></ul><p>A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of  Merck &amp; Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000.  Financial Life Planners bought a new position in  Merck &amp; Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000.  Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in  Merck &amp; Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000.  Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in  Merck &amp; Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000.  Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in  Merck &amp; Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. </p><h2>Wall Street Analyst Weigh In</h2><p>MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck &amp; Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an &#34;equal weight&#34; rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck &amp; Co., Inc. from a &#34;buy&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Merck &amp; Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an &#34;outperform&#34; rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim  restated a &#34;buy&#34; rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck &amp; Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Merck &amp; Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a &#34;market perform&#34; rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued  a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck &amp; Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of &#34;Moderate Buy&#34; and an average target price of $111.13.</p><ul><li>Institutional Investors Bet $1B on These 4 Stocks—Should You?</li></ul><p><b>Read Our Latest Research Report on MRK</b></p><h2>Insider Buying and Selling</h2><p>In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. </p><h2>Merck &amp; Co., Inc. Stock Performance</h2><ul><li>These S&amp;P 500 Stocks Have Low P/E Ratios — Time to Buy?</li></ul><p>MRK opened at $83.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $209.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50-day moving average price is $86.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.33. Merck &amp; Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.93 and a 1 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. </p><p>Merck &amp; Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck &amp; Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Merck &amp; Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.  Equities analysts expect that  Merck &amp; Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year. </p><p>Merck &amp; Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in    shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued. </p><h2>Merck &amp; Co., Inc. Profile</h2> (Free Report)<p>Merck &amp; 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.</p><h2>Featured Articles</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Merck &amp; Co., Inc.</li><li>How is Compound Interest Calculated?</li><li>Meta Takes A Bow With Q1 Earnings - Watch For Tariff Impact in Q2</li><li>Stock Splits, Do They Really Impact Investors?</li><li>Amazon Earnings: 2 Reasons to Love It, 1 Reason to Be Cautious</li><li>Dividend Payout Ratio Calculator</li><li>Palantir Earnings: 1 Bullish Signal and 1 Area of Concern</li></ul><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPU1SSw?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPU1SSw"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Merck &amp; Co., Inc. Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Merck &amp; Co., Inc., you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Merck &amp; Co., Inc. wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Merck &amp; Co., Inc. currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

<p>Axa S.A. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.2% in Q4, acquiring 76,424 shares, bringing its total to 1,310,947 shares valued at approximately $130.4 million. Other institutional investors also adjusted their holdings. Analysts have mixed ratings on MRK, with an average target price of $111.13. The stock opened at $83.14, with a market cap of $209.66 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.35. Merck's stock has fluctuated between a low of $75.93 and a high of $134.63 over the past year.</p>

Axa S.A. Buys 76,424 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)