Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 48,149 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,467,627 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,149 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.0% of Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $214,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American State Bank Iowa bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $796,000. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the third quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the third quarter. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC now owns 14,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 378,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,052,000 after acquiring an additional 20,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the third quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 44,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $1,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,942,755. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 11,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.63, for a total value of $1,539,939.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 110,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,501,282.21. The trade was a 9.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,011,040. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $146.90 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.24 and a twelve month high of $156.92. The firm has a market cap of $362.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.44, a PEG ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $146.39 and a 200 day moving average of $127.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Zacks Research cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. HSBC lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $127.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal-health products. The company’s research and commercial activities span areas including oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Its products include the cancer medicine Keytruda and the Gardasil vaccine.

Founded in the United States in 1891, Merck & Co became an independent company in 1917. It is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and operates internationally.