Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by AR Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• AR Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.9%, holding 155,470 shares valued at approximately $13.96 million.
• Merck recently reported earnings of $2.13 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, although revenue fell slightly short at $15.81 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, equating to a dividend yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of 49.92%.

AR Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,470 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,300 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 3.2% of AR Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. AR Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock worth $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.7610 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $84.9810. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,292,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,792,842. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $120.30.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.