Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by Waterloo Capital L.P.

Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,140 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,080 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the second quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Saiph Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the first quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the second quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $100.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.01. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 44.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.06.

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.