17,225 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,483,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,225 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $215,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,456,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,858,938,000 after buying an additional 2,969,856 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,774,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,701,831,000 after buying an additional 2,919,780 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 263.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,702,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,334,000 after buying an additional 1,959,778 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,249,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,083,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $260,560,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:MRK opened at $147.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.90 and a 1-year high of $156.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $363.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.83, a PEG ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $146.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 16.73%. The firm had revenue of $18.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.