Winnow Wealth LLC Takes $45,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $95.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $235.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.61. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’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. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.