Capital Management Associates Inc Purchases New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Capital Management Associates Inc has purchased 6,200 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. for approximately $491,000 in the second quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the pharmaceutical company.
• Merck's stock reported earnings per share of $2.13 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, although revenue fell short of expectations at $15.81 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of nearly 50%.

Capital Management Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $86.39 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $111.58.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of 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 lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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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