Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,616,262 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 134,403 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 0.7% of KBC Group NV’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $260,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $95.54 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.69. The company has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

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.