Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 25,125 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased 25,125 shares of Merck & Co., Inc., totaling approximately $1.998 million during the second quarter, according to an SEC filing.
• Merck recently reported earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $15.81 billion, slightly below expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.7% and a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 25,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,998,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of MRK opened at $87.63 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $111.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.91 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.06 and a 200-day moving average of $81.53.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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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