Birchbrook Inc. Decreases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Birchbrook Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,771 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Birchbrook Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 298,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,720,000 after buying an additional 36,085 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 591,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,799,000 after buying an additional 89,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 963.9% in the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 78,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,839,000 after buying an additional 71,393 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $85.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $212.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.91. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $119.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.