Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1%, now owning 448,319 shares valued at $36.7 million after selling 596,403 shares in the second quarter.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc., have recently increased their stakes in Merck, indicating a shift in investor sentiment.
• Merck's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.13, surpassing expectations, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, reflecting a yield of 3.9%.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 448,319 shares of the company's stock after selling 596,403 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $84.11 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $83.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $111.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $210.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. 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 year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $105.00.

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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