KCM Investment Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 75,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 7,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $48,921,000. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 31,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,129,000 after buying an additional 3,968 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $3.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $95.08. 4,547,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,854,578. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

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.