Naples Global Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,928 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,768 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 89,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,057,000 after buying an additional 21,038 shares in the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 14,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $97,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $90.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $225.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $114.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.