Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 753,681 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 51.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,221,342 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 753,681 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $175,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $25,000. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st 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. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.50.

Insider Activity

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $100.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.37. 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 $249.02 billion, a PE 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.80%.

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.