West Family Investments Inc. Buys 3,111 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,796 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,111 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,858,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $104.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. 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 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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 issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

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.