Country Club Bank Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Country Club Bank lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 85,813 shares of the company’s stock after selling 733 shares during the quarter. Country Club Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $103.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.52 and a 200-day moving average of $121.66. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.80 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.