PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 124,005 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,222,192 shares of the company's stock after selling 124,005 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.6% of PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.32% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $933,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in 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 equities research analysts have commented on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, 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, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $96.54. The stock had a trading volume of 13,022,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,952,395. The stock has a market cap of $244.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.60. 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. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 64.57%.

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.