Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.1%, owning 754,888 shares worth approximately $59.76 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Merck reported a quarterly EPS of $2.13, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.03, and expressed a FY 2025 guidance of $8.870-8.970 EPS.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, reflecting a 4.0% dividend yield, with an ex-dividend date of September 15th.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 22.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 754,888 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 136,862 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $59,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Little House Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company's stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $81.41. 25,594,757 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,025,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $118.16. The company has a market capitalization of $203.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's 50-day moving average is $82.79 and its 200 day moving average is $82.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.81 dividend. 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 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 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.