Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,973,364 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,873 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $337,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 stake 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 worth $1,121,372,000 after acquiring an additional 114,080 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised 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 valued at $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,537,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $742,358,000 after purchasing an additional 43,578 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays cut their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.74 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,042,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,838,368. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $252.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.38 and a 200-day moving average of $119.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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.