OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 20.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,372 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second 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 bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.76 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $110.38 and its 200 day moving average is $119.73. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.60 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.