Donald L. Hagan LLC Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Donald L. Hagan LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,371 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Donald L. Hagan LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $83.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $209.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $114.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

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.