Strs Ohio Has $83.74 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Strs Ohio increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,057,877 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,503 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $83,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.52 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.72. The stock has a market cap of $216.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.