Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 51.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,221,342 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 753,681 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.09% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $175,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $100.33 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.10 and a 200-day moving average of $85.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $249.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s 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, equities analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.80%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. 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. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.50.

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.