Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Lmcg Investments LLC

Lmcg Investments LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the first quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 13,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.3% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 493,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,273,000 after buying an additional 76,223 shares during the period. Finally, Bright Rock Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.8% during the first quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 142,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,746,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:MRK opened at $86.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $83.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.51.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.31.

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.