Sutton Place Investors LLC Invests $452,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Sutton Place Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 223.6% during the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 39,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 27,185 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.9% during the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.5% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $89.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $82.87 and its 200-day moving average is $81.61. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $111.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.