SlateStone Wealth LLC Has $9.34 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 118,035 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,284 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 296,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,494,000 after acquiring an additional 9,009 shares during the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 8,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7,567.9% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 489,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,726,000 after purchasing an additional 482,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.0% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 20,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $249.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $86.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.01. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the 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 owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.