Vinva Investment Management Ltd Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 186,338 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 54,898 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 109,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,685,000 after acquiring an additional 11,291 shares in the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 53.2% in the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,729,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642,835 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $9,450,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $942,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $104.71 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $259.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.06.

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.