Rep. Julie Johnson Purchases Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Representative Julie Johnson (D-Texas) recently bought shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). In a filing disclosed on February 12th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. stock on January 17th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “CHASE BROKERAGE ACCOUNT (3935)” account.

Representative Julie Johnson also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) on 1/28/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) on 1/28/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) on 1/28/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) on 1/28/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) on 1/27/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) on 1/24/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) on 1/24/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Chubb (NYSE:CB) on 1/24/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) on 1/24/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) on 1/17/2025.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $83.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.09 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.50. The company has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Representative Johnson

Julie Johnson (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Texas’ 32nd Congressional District. She assumed office on January 3, 2025. Her current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Johnson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas’ 32nd Congressional District. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Julie Johnson earned a B.A. in history and government from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1991. Johnson’s career experience includes working as an attorney.

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.