Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Buys 24,204 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 293,875 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,204 shares during the quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $24,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $509,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 103.8% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 22,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 11,599 shares in the last quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.8% during the first quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 3,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the period. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 189.5% during the first quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 23,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 15,088 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.34 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.84. 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 company has a market cap of $249.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 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.