Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Advisors Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 198.6% in the 2nd quarter, owning 66,940 shares valued at approximately $5.3 million.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc., have also increased their positions in Merck during the first quarter.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing an annual yield of 4.1%, with a dividend payout ratio of 49.92%.

Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 198.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,940 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 44,523 shares during the quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.51 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $114.79. The company has a market cap of $196.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $82.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.98.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 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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