Merck & Co., Inc. Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 100,339 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 130% compared to the typical volume of 43,551 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,858,570,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.96 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.27 and its 200-day moving average is $84.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.