Lion Street Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Lion Street Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 25.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 870 shares during the period. Lion Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the second quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saiph Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $85.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $111.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.88 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 data 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 net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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 predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.