Autumn Glory Partners LLC Sells 405 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Autumn Glory Partners LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,736 shares of the company’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 49,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 113,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,068,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, Joule Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.25 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. 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 50-day simple moving average of $82.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. Research analysts expect 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.