KBC Group NV Sells 884,248 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KBC Group NV lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 26.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,481,859 shares of the company’s stock after selling 884,248 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.9% of KBC Group NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. KBC Group NV owned about 0.10% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $281,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $98.53 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $249.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.50. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $97.90 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.