Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Acquires 5,059 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 73.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,910 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,059 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.6% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 89,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,057,000 after acquiring an additional 21,038 shares in the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 14,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% during the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 7.4%

MRK opened at $90.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $225.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. 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 $114.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.77.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.41.

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.