Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC Acquires 788 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,553 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.3% of Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $97.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $242.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a PEG 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $86.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.83. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’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. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.