Advisors Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7%, owning 132,874 shares valued at approximately $11.9 million after acquiring an additional 13,867 shares.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Merck, with Wells Fargo reducing theirs from $97.00 to $90.00, and the current consensus rating for the stock is "Hold" with a target price of $107.44.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, representing an annualized yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,874 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,867 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $85.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $212.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $119.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.91.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 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.

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