Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Has $111.13 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 978,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,300 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.8% of Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $111,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Patron Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,921,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK remained flat at $101.88 during trading hours on Monday. 1,527,161 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,825,273. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $112.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.81. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $258.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 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 for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share 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.