Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 3,618,532 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 192.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,496,664 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,618,532 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.6% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.22% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $461,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Little House Capital LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after buying an additional 7,458 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of 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 raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake 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 worth $15,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,930 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. 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. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $98.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $243.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $92.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.75. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%.The firm’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 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 yield of 3.5%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.