Railway Pension Investments Ltd Has $98.45 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,173,015 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,700 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.3% of Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $98,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leslie Global Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $213,000. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,340,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,515,000 after buying an additional 55,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $299,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $106.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $107.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $97.36 and a 200-day moving average of $88.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.