Red Spruce Capital LLC Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Red Spruce Capital LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,425 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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 boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $100.34 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $92.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.84. The company has a market capitalization of $249.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 42.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.