Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Sells 720 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 720 shares during the quarter. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $991,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $84.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $211.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. 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 twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $109.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business 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 analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.