Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Kestra Investment Management LLC

Kestra Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 52.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,424 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares during the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $2,858,570,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after buying an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $100.33 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. 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%.

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.