KBC Group NV Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,616,262 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 134,403 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.7% of KBC Group NV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. KBC Group NV owned about 0.10% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $260,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $2.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $97.99. The stock had a trading volume of 15,092,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,943,378. The company has a market capitalization of $247.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $99.80 and a 200-day moving average of $108.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.