Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,028 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,862 shares during the period. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $258,267,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.0%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $109.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

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.