Legal & General Group Plc Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,503,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 252,263 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,543,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $95.00 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $235.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.70. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 42.80%.

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.