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

Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,490 shares during the period. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $90.13 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $114.60. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.77. The company has a market cap of $225.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37.

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, 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 49.92%.

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.