New World Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

New World Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $43,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $97.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.38 and a 200-day moving average of $82.80. 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 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 44.91%.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.