Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $4.26 Billion Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.7% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 2.16% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $4,263,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $258,267,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 44.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,757,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,066,000 after acquiring an additional 2,380,066 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other 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 value 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 approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $97.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $242.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $86.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

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.