Panagora Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 175.9% during the first quarter, now owning 818,928 shares valued at approximately $73.5 million.
• Several institutional investors showed a strong interest in Merck, with notable increases in holdings from Activest Wealth Management and Evergreen Capital Management, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 76.07%.
• Merck recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, with a yield of 3.9% and a payout ratio of roughly 49.92%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 175.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 818,928 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 522,126 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $73,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 201.4% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.3% during the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 159,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,450,000 after buying an additional 48,179 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $756,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the first quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,334,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,311,000 after buying an additional 34,356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $84.13 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $82.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $210.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 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. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. 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.

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