Advisory Services Network LLC Acquires 10,045 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 124,510 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,045 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,327,000 after acquiring an additional 79,529 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% in the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,168,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.33 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.