Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC Acquires 97,798 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Philip James Wealth Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc., acquiring 97,798 shares, bringing its total holdings to 191,874 shares valued at approximately $15.19 million.
• Several hedge funds have also boosted their positions in Merck, with 76.07% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Merck recently announced a $0.81 quarterly dividend, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.6% and a payout ratio of about 49.92%.

Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 104.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,874 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 97,798 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.9% of Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 106,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,547,000 after buying an additional 5,768 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 130.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,329,000 after buying an additional 30,910 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,163,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,416,000 after buying an additional 556,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 11,910 shares of the company's stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 5,059 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 7.4%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $90.13 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $82.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.77. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $225.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $114.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors 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 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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