Caldwell Trust Co Purchases Shares of 48,103 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 48,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,808,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Little House Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,168,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.33 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $92.10 and its 200 day moving average is $85.43. The stock has a market cap of $249.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. 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 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 $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.