Hodges Capital Management Inc. Acquires 14,428 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 74.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,736 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,428 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $398,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 298,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,720,000 after purchasing an additional 36,085 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 591,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,799,000 after purchasing an additional 89,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 963.9% during the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 78,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,839,000 after purchasing an additional 71,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $85.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $212.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $119.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.