Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by Cullen Capital Management LLC

Cullen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,276,476 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,800 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 2.1% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $180,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.6% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,937,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,896,000 after buying an additional 2,277,088 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,808,000. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $250,000. Finally, NWF Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.7% during the 2nd quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 8,777 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3%

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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s 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. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.