Advocate Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Advocate Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9%, owning 93,723 shares valued at approximately $7.4 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Merck reported a quarterly EPS of $2.13, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $15.81 billion, slightly below the analyst forecast.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, yielding 3.8%, with a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Advocate Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,723 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,428 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

MRK stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.47 and a 200 day moving average of $81.47. The stock has a market capitalization 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 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 $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.

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