Cove Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Cove Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $242,000. Instrumental Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. Instrumental Wealth LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.9% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 39,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Novem Group increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the second quarter. Novem Group now owns 38,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2%

MRK stock opened at $78.51 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.98. The company has a market capitalization of $196.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 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 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $114.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued 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 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.