Nwam LLC Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Nwam LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,442 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,746 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,622,000 after buying an additional 1,959,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,388,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,132,000 after buying an additional 1,508,821 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $99.17 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $107.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

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.