Icon Advisers Inc. Co. Sells 4,800 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 49.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,890 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the quarter. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $104.63 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.81. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.84. The stock has a market cap 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The company’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 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on 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. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut 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 research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.