Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 809,874 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 98,057 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.5% of Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $92,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company's stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company's stock worth $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company's stock worth $1,102,135,000 after acquiring an additional 56,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $952,402,000 after acquiring an additional 64,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company's stock valued at $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $104.26. 6,966,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,786,673. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.80 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.59. The company has a market capitalization of $264.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on 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. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.