Camden National Bank Has $8.99 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Camden National Bank lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,512 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,797 shares during the period. Camden National Bank's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its stake in 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 acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $97.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $242.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $105.07.

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Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.88.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MRK

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.

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