111 Capital Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

111 Capital raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,706 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the period. 111 Capital’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $89.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.61. 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. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.