Kennedy Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Kennedy Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 117,452 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,816 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its position in 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 during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st 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, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.84. The company has a market cap of $250.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

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. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was 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. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.