River Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

River Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,018 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,853 shares during the period. River Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,327,000 after purchasing an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE MRK opened at $101.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $250.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.18. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase 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 currently 44.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.82.

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.