Panagora Asset Management Inc. Buys 522,126 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 175.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 818,928 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 522,126 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $73,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 201.4% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 159,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,450,000 after buying an additional 48,179 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $756,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $106,000. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,334,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,311,000 after buying an additional 34,356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.1%

MRK opened at $84.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $120.30. The company has a market capitalization of $210.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.00.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid 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 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.44.

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.