Iowa State Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Iowa State Bank reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 88.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,404 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,872 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.5% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,456,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,094,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after buying an additional 4,636,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.0%

MRK opened at $100.34 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $92.33 and a 200 day moving average of $85.60. The firm has a market cap of $249.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 42.80%.

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.