Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 52,070 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 861,944 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 52,070 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $86,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company's stock worth $2,552,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company's stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9 %

MRK traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $96.57. 11,512,355 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,552,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $244.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $99.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.11. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.