Aberdeen Group plc Has $356.18 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,526,331 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,338 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.6% of Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $356,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $258,267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.47 and a 200-day moving average of $81.51. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.31.

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.