Saudi Central Bank Buys New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.1%

MRK opened at $84.13 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $210.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.14 and a 200-day moving average of $82.98.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 49.92%.

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.