Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Sells 382 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 382 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $89.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, 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 $111.58. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $82.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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. 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 3.6%. 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.