Krilogy Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 16,022 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 16,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,268,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% in the second quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 12,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $2,721,000. OLD Republic International Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. OLD Republic International Corp now owns 705,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,855,000 after purchasing an additional 92,000 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 4,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 46,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,704,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

MRK stock opened at $81.07 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $119.38. 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 market cap of $202.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

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.