Almanack Investment Partners LLC. Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Almanack Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 350.5%, acquiring a total of 18,349 shares worth approximately $1.45 million.
• Merck reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.03, although revenues were slightly below estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Almanack Investment Partners LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 350.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,349 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 14,276 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the second quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Cora Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the second quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Saiph Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the first quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.02 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $111.58. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $83.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.42. 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 capitalization of $214.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business 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, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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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