Equitable Trust Co. Sells 1,576 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Equitable Trust Co. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,576 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $991,553,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $85.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $213.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.40. 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. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $111.58.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.