Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Buys 49,696 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,466 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,696 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.8% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $31,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the third quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 48,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 17,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,959,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 495,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,284,000 after acquiring an additional 8,659 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,263,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,459,000 after acquiring an additional 25,257 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,786,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,528,000 after acquiring an additional 635,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.10 on Monday, reaching $101.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,684,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,825,982. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $258.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

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.