Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Archer Investment Corp

Archer Investment Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,379 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Saiph Capital LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $95.00 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $235.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.80%.

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.