Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Makes New $3.20 Million Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. has acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. valued at approximately $3.20 million, adding 40,429 shares to its holdings.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 76.07% of Merck's stock, highlighting significant interest in the company from large financial entities.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, yielding 3.8%, with a payout ratio currently standing at 49.92%.

Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 40,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $258,267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE MRK opened at $86.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. 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 one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $111.58. The company's 50 day moving average price is $83.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. 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 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.

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