Sanders Morris Harris LLC Invests $509,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $509,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 36,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,258,000 after buying an additional 5,669 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 6,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 31,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,995 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. 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, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MRK opened at $99.19 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.84. The company has a market capitalization of $246.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $92.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.