Cozad Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,531 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,366 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after acquiring an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after acquiring an additional 64,996 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,201,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,965,000 after buying an additional 431,074 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $100.72 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $255.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 37.32%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

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.