Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,306,332 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,668 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $103,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $486,000. Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 34,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 101,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,132,000 after purchasing an additional 24,218 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $98.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% 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.