Corient Private Wealth LLC Boosts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 85.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,937,948 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,277,088 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.6% of Corient Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $390,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $3,808,000. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $250,000. NWF Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.7% in the second quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 8,777 shares during the last quarter. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $1,172,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 716,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,062,000 after buying an additional 64,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.50.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.33 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.84. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 presently 42.80%.

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.