Merck & Co., Inc. Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 68,419 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 68% compared to the average daily volume of 40,831 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $83.96 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $114.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.71. The firm has a market cap of $209.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in 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. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.6% during the first quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,272,000 after buying an additional 2,799 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 97,672.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 45,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,124,000 after buying an additional 45,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $564,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.