Columbia Bank Sells 526 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Columbia Bank cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 526 shares during the quarter. Columbia Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Little House Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd 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 period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 3,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,013,000 after buying an additional 6,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of MRK opened at $100.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $249.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.01.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.