Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Purchases 963 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,456 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.72 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $110.19. 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 market cap of $209.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. 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.