Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Acquires 679,339 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,104,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 679,339 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 2.3% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. owned about 0.20% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $404,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $2,858,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $991,553,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4%

MRK opened at $100.85 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $90.43 and a 200-day moving average of $84.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.84.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.38.

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.