State Street Corp Has $9.47 Billion Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

State Street Corp decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,493,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,035,776 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,473,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’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 approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $98.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $245.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.83. 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. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. 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 issued a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.38.

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.