Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Keudell Morrison Wealth Management

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,939 shares of the company’s stock after selling 816 shares during the quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 223.6% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 39,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after acquiring an additional 27,185 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $89.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.