Swiss National Bank Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,517,951 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.6% of Swiss National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $853,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $96.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $108.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.90. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.