Lynx Investment Advisory Acquires 563 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,972 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $314,000 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 MRK. Little House Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 6.8%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $83.96 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $114.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.55 and its 200-day moving average is $81.71. The company has a market capitalization of $209.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (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 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. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.41.

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.