Naples Global Advisors LLC Buys 5,768 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 106,928 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,768 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 130.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 54,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 30,910 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,163,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,416,000 after acquiring an additional 556,891 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 11,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 5,059 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC now owns 9,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,000 after acquiring an additional 4,623 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 7.4%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $90.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.68 and a 200 day moving average of $81.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $114.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.