CFM Wealth Partners LLC Sells 3,802 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

CFM Wealth Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 26.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,458 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,802 shares during the period. CFM Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 1,280,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,207,000 after acquiring an additional 52,000 shares during the period. Clark & Stuart Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc now owns 108,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,101,000 after acquiring an additional 5,453 shares during the period. Seamount Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $360,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,659,000 after acquiring an additional 20,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $88.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $111.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.48. The stock has a market cap of $221.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 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 (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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

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.