Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,454 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $109.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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.