Stack Financial Management Inc Sells 4,025 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Stack Financial Management Inc cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,759 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,025 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.5% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $17,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $86.02 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.47 and its 200 day moving average is $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.88 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. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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