KPP Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KPP Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,519 shares of the company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of MRK traded down $2.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $96.31. The company had a trading volume of 16,464,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,910,528. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.97. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $243.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40.

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

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.