Merck & Co., Inc. Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 100,339 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 130% compared to the typical volume of 43,551 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded down $0.37 on Monday, hitting $99.35. 4,736,355 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,617,638. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.68.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The company’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. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.