OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 270,845 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,764 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Counsel LLC NY lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Counsel LLC NY now owns 63,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,005,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,084,000 after purchasing an additional 567,900 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 567.3% during the second quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 52,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 44,357 shares in the last quarter. TradeLink Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $950,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 35,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,787,000 after buying an additional 5,049 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $104.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $259.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.81. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Scotiabank started 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 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.06.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.