Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7%

MRK opened at $86.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $83.47 and a 200-day moving average of $81.51. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.