Cullen Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,276,476 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,800 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.1% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $180,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Seven equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $100.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $17.28 billion for 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.