Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 122,466 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,882 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Cora Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Saiph Capital LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.31.
Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance
Shares of MRK opened at $86.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $111.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.15 and a 200-day moving average of $81.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.
Merck & Co., Inc. 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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