5,920 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Bought by Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the second quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 8,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $658,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Values Added Financial LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $248,000. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% in the second quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.7% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.8% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 382,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,244,000 after acquiring an additional 37,364 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $86.39 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $111.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $83.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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 reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced 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 assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.31.

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.

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