Arlington Trust Co LLC Has $270,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Arlington Trust Co LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 55.5%, now holding shares worth $270,000 after selling 4,245 shares in the second quarter.
• Despite Arlington's decrease, several institutional investors, including Davis Investment Partners LLC and Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida, increased their stakes in Merck during the same period.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, which equates to an annualized dividend yield of 3.9%, with a payout ratio of approximately 49.92%.

Arlington Trust Co LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 55.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,410 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,245 shares during the quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Davis Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,025 shares of the company's stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697 shares in the last quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,395 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 16,138 shares of the company's stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. MRA Advisory Group increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 66.8% during the 2nd quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 3,929 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 17,328 shares of the company's stock worth $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 7,001 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $82.87 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.75. The firm has a market cap of $206.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $119.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s 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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