Boston Research & Management Inc. Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Boston Research & Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,359 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 707,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,478,000 after acquiring an additional 26,263 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 10,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 197,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,735,000 after purchasing an additional 43,404 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $97.78 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $242.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $86.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.83. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.