Osprey Private Wealth LLC Purchases 8,900 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Osprey Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 140.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,225 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,900 shares during the quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.2% in the third quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 22,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 4,260 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 22,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 634,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,244,000 after purchasing an additional 20,600 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 5,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Balefire LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 3,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $99.19 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.84. The firm has a market cap of $246.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $92.79 and a 200 day moving average of $85.84. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.