Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Invests $2.19 Million in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,186,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $117.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $117.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.32.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.