Sage Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 3,013 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Sage Private Wealth Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 50.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,920 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,013 shares during the quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the second quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saiph Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $83.72 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $110.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.40. The company has a market capitalization of $209.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.