Private Wealth Management Group LLC Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Private Wealth Management Group LLC cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,538 shares of the company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank cut 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 note on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $109.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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