Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 18,652 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 299,098 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,652 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 53.0% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 60,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 20,838 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $263,000. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.8% in the second quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 7,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the second quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 63,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,045,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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 dropped their target price 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 dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $86.02 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58. 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 company has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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