Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Sells 7,050 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

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Aptus Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,329 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,050 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock worth $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock worth $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.1030 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.1830. 11,973,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,391,381. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.14. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $217.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business 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, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.