MB Levis & Associates LLC Buys 403 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

MB Levis & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,032 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the quarter. MB Levis & Associates LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kelman Lazarov Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $219,000. First Bancorp Inc ME lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the second quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 5,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Schubert & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the second quarter. Schubert & Co now owns 3,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $115,197,000. Finally, Monument Group Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.6% during the second quarter. Monument Group Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 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 $109.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.