B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $42.43 Million in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 373,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,429,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 87,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,927,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,698,000 after buying an additional 34,312 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 6,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 5,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 193,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,925,000 after buying an additional 9,387 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $96.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $108.46 and a 200 day moving average of $118.60. The company has a market cap of $244.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company 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 was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

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.