Groupama Asset Managment Acquires 72,571 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

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Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 862,359 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 72,571 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $76,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crabel Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $273,000. JT Stratford LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 192.0% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 18,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 12,268 shares in the last quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% during the first quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 3,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 239.6% in the first quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 7,727 shares of the company's stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 5,452 shares during the period. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the company's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.1030 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $87.1830. 11,973,348 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,391,381. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $120.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $81.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.