Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $61.36 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 677,428 shares of the company's stock after selling 184,516 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $61,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after acquiring an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,880,000 after acquiring an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.35. 9,716,130 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,445,339. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $129.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.