Krilogy Financial LLC Invests $1.27 Million in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 16,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,268,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

MRK stock opened at $81.07 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $202.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $119.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 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.