Salomon & Ludwin LLC Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,851 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $211.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $109.92. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $83.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.31.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.