Paloma Partners Management Co Buys Shares of 5,885 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by purchasing 5,885 shares valued at approximately $528,000 during the first quarter.
• Merck's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.13, exceeding estimates, along with a net margin of 25.79% and revenue of $15.81 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.9%, payable to stockholders of record on September 15.

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $528,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 21,547,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,143,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,375,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,828,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,313 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $84.59. 13,229,817 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,219,465. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $120.30. The company's fifty day moving average price is $82.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.01. The firm has a market cap of $211.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 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.