West Family Investments Inc. Purchases 891 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

West Family Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.7% of West Family Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after purchasing an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,517,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,739,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $96.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $108.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.60. 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. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.