Trek Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Trek Financial LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 62.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,768 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,161 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.9% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 144,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,927,000 after acquiring an additional 35,628 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the first quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 11,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the first quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 25,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4%

MRK stock opened at $100.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $250.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.38.

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.