Pathway Financial Advisors LLC Sells 203 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Pathway Financial Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,596 shares of the company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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 reduced their price target on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $86.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $111.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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%.

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.