Osaic Holdings Inc. Acquires 970,020 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 69.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,364,765 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 970,020 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $154,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cora Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 32,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 9,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.59% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded up $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $102.06. 1,996,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,443,224. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.33, a PEG ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.36 and a 1-year high of $119.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $104.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.30 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 18.26% and a net margin of 7.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. UBS Group raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, October 20th. StockNews.com began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $132.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, September 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 43,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total value of $4,602,729.69. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 111,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,738,572.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 2,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.38, for a total transaction of $213,052.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,862,394.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 43,823 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total value of $4,602,729.69. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 111,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,738,572.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.