Commerce Bank Sells 41,816 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Commerce Bank lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,296,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,816 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.0% of Commerce Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Commerce Bank owned about 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $141,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,108,366,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,566,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,071,000 after purchasing an additional 228,578 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $131.12. 3,338,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,963,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $127.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.10 billion, a PE ratio of 145.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.