KBC Group NV Sells 227,229 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KBC Group NV reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,389,033 shares of the company's stock after selling 227,229 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.7% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.09% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $214,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $480,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $10,658,000. Bank OZK lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank OZK now owns 47,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 114,840 shares of the company's stock worth $11,424,000 after acquiring an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.14 on Monday, reaching $78.96. 3,294,297 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,117,465. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $79.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $198.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.