Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,201 shares of the company’s stock after selling 767 shares during the quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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 downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $81.07 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.68. 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 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $119.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.