Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,847 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,313 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 6.8%

NYSE MRK opened at $83.96 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $114.79. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.71. The firm has a market cap of $209.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.