Woodline Partners LP Has $68.62 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5%, holding 764,526 shares valued at $68.62 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Merck reported earnings of $2.13 per share, surpassing estimates by $0.10, despite revenue slightly missing the analysts' expectations at $15.81 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, yielding about 3.9%, with the pay date set for October 7th for shareholders recorded by September 15th.

Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 764,526 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 33,192 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $68,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 56.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 500,902 shares of the company's stock worth $44,961,000 after purchasing an additional 180,118 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,470 shares of the company's stock worth $14,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. AAF Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. AAF Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 9,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $814,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $84.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $210.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $119.38. The business's 50 day moving average price is $82.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.93. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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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