Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during Q2, owning 122,466 shares worth approximately $9.69 million.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their positions in Merck, with changes including a 2,316.9% increase from Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.
• Merck's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $2.13 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $2.03, but the revenue fell short of expectations at $15.81 billion.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,466 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,882 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,316.9% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 46,187 shares of the company's stock worth $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 44,276 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company's stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,384 shares of the company's stock worth $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Latko Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 27,434 shares of the company's stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.39 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 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 $111.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

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