Saturna Capital Corp Acquires 1,168 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Saturna Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 952,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.4% of Saturna Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $108,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after acquiring an additional 181,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after buying an additional 57,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $98.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 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. has a 12-month low of $98.50 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.