AMJ Financial Wealth Management Sells 2,888 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

AMJ Financial Wealth Management cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 46.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,327 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,888 shares during the quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Pinkerton Wealth LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pinkerton Wealth LLC now owns 51,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,116,000 after acquiring an additional 7,069 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the second quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 285,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,618,000 after purchasing an additional 7,369 shares in the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.6% during the second quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC now owns 808 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.5% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,456,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,094,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $2,644,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Scotiabank started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.06.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’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 owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.9%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.84 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.09 and its 200-day moving average is $84.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current 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 paid 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 yield of 3.3%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

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.