Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Has $5.03 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,592 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,418 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $43,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. 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, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $104.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $259.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.37. 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 released 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 net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.