Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4%, selling 17,994 shares in the second quarter, leaving them with 139,728 shares valued at approximately $11.17 million.
• Key institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab, have increased their stakes in Merck, with Vanguard holding over $22.6 billion worth of shares after adding 1.4 million shares.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Merck, with Wells Fargo reducing its target from $97 to $90, signifying a cautious stance on the stock.

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,728 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,994 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first 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. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $991,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 6.8%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $83.96 on Wednesday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $82.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.71. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $114.79. The company has a market capitalization of $209.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 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.

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