1900 Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

1900 Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 307 shares during the quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% during the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $97,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% during the first quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the first quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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 objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

MRK opened at $89.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $112.08.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 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 analyst estimates 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. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.