Values Added Financial LLC Buys New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Values Added Financial LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 3,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,316.9% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 46,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 44,276 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 2,712 shares during the period. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Latko Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 27,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.39 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $111.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 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. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of 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 decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

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.