Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Buys 530 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,748 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $84.82 on Wednesday. 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. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $111.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.67 and a 200 day moving average of $81.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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