Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Boosted by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 798,521 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,268 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $98,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,026,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 87,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,553,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 44,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,850,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $117.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $296.77 billion, a PE ratio of 130.19, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $117.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.