Accel Wealth Management Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Accel Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,695 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.3% during the second quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 40,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.3% during the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 81,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,469,000 after acquiring an additional 10,222 shares during the last quarter. Pflug Koory LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the second quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 19,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 111 Capital increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.5% during the second quarter. 111 Capital now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.25 on Friday. 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. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $111.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.61. The firm has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm 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. 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 paid 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.