DNB Asset Management AS Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

DNB Asset Management AS cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 754,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $59,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 47,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 334.4% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 36,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,897,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,617,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,005,000 after acquiring an additional 482,700 shares in the last quarter. Willis Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 263,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,833,000 after acquiring an additional 75,500 shares during the period. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $149,768,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $95.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.70. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07. The company has a market capitalization of $235.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. 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%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.