Rhumbline Advisers Sells 383,775 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,109,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 383,775 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $325,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the 2nd 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.0%

MRK opened at $97.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

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 on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.88.

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.