Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Holdings Trimmed by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 523,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,682 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.4% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $76,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Curry Webb Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Horizons Wealth Management acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Graney & King LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total transaction of $10,718,839.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,073,631.14. The trade was a 63.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $1,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,942,755. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 135,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,011,040 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $179.00 to $177.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $127.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $146.90 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.24 and a 52-week high of $156.92. The stock has a market cap of $362.42 billion, a PE ratio of 151.44, a PEG ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.63.

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. The company had revenue of $18.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.33 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 16.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

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.