AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,787,272 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,029,454 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.6% of AQR Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $690,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $100.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. 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. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.