United Advisor Group LLC Has $686,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

United Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,662 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $96.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $85.67 and a 200-day moving average of $82.52. 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 $105.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders 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 is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.