Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 26,500 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,300,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,500 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $102,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $95.16 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.61. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.07. The company has a market cap of $236.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 42.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction 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. The trade was 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 through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.