Pzena Investment Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $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 acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Berenberg Bank cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $85.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $111.58. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. 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.