Chemung Canal Trust Co. Buys 15,861 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.6% in the 2nd quarter, acquiring an additional 15,861 shares and bringing its total holdings to 63,053 shares valued at approximately $4.99 million.
• Analysts have adjusted their ratings and price targets for Merck, with Berenberg Bank downgrading its rating to "hold" and lowering the price target from $100.00 to $90.00.
• Merck recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 to be paid on October 7th, resulting in an annualized payout of $3.24 and a yield of 3.6%.

Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 33.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,053 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,861 shares during the quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $89.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $82.87 and a 200 day moving average of $81.61. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (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 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, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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