RiverFront Investment Group LLC Has $1.59 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,105 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,204 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Little House Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 79,529 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 3,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings 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 worth $15,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of MRK opened at $100.50 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend 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 is presently 44.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.