Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,826 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position 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 buying an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $80.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $200.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $118.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.24.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.