17,995 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,368 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,995 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,169,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,507 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,413,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,573,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,583 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,249,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,083,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934,312 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,774,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,701,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,456,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,858,938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969,856 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. DZ Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $153.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $147.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $363.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.83, a PEG ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.90 and a 1-year high of $156.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $146.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. is a global pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal-health products. The company’s research and commercial activities span areas including oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Its products include the cancer medicine Keytruda and the Gardasil vaccine. Founded in the United States in 1891, Merck & Co. became an independent company in 1917. It is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and operates internationally.