Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 176,086 shares of the company’s stock after selling 124,901 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the second quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the second quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $100.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $249.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $92.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.50.

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

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.