Virtue Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Virtue Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,745 shares during the quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 48,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 2,143 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.5% during the second quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $2,889,340,000. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.4% in the second quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 6,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. 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. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $104.63 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.66 and a 200 day moving average of $83.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $259.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The business’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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.