Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Has $629,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,948 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 236 shares during the quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $473,000. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the second quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Values Added Financial LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% in the second quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.7% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $86.39 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $111.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.15 and a 200-day moving average of $81.56. The company has a market capitalization of $215.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. 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.