State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Sells 13,538 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,438,983 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,538 shares during the quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $193,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,889,340,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $991,553,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $104.71 on Thursday. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $259.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.74 and its 200 day moving average is $83.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.