Rep. Robert Bresnahan, Jr. Sells Off Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Representative Robert Bresnahan, Jr. (R-Pennsylvania) recently sold shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). In a filing disclosed on March 27th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $15,001 and $50,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. stock on February 25th.

Representative Robert Bresnahan, Jr. also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) on 3/7/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 3/6/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of SEA (NYSE:SE) on 3/5/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Credo Technology Group (NASDAQ:CRDO) on 3/4/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) on 3/4/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) on 3/4/2025.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) on 3/4/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) on 3/4/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) on 3/3/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) on 3/3/2025.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $89.18 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.10.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,782,000 after buying an additional 518,270 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 75.4% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 131,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,924,000 after acquiring an additional 56,495 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 385,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,802,000 after acquiring an additional 9,305 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 15,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.2% during the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 4,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim dropped 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

About Representative Bresnahan

Rob Bresnahan Jr. (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Bresnahan (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Rob Bresnahan Jr. was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He earned a B.S. in business administration, management and operations from the University of Scranton in 2012. His career experience includes working as the chief financial officer and CEO of a family business, an electrical contracting company.

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.