Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,360 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.9% of Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,102,135,000 after buying an additional 56,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

MRK stock opened at $106.70 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $270.25 billion, a PE ratio of 118.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $113.86 and a 200 day moving average of $121.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.