Birchbrook Inc. Acquires 1,039 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Birchbrook Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,810 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 29,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.6% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 304,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,341,000 after acquiring an additional 62,041 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the first quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 5,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.1% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 31,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $96.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $239.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 3.5%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 42.80%.

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.