Procyon Advisors LLC Has $1.78 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Procyon Advisors LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,536 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,115 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 16,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 28,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,279,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $201,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,176.8% in the 2nd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 27,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 26,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MRK opened at $81.07 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.66. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $119.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

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.