Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA Buys 8,020 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,508 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,020 shares during the quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:MRK opened at $98.96 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $91.27 and its 200-day moving average is $84.83. The firm has a market cap of $245.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders 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 represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.80%.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.