Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 76.6%, owning 10,771 shares after selling 35,343 shares in the second quarter.
• Merck's recent quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' estimates, reporting $2.13 earnings per share on revenue of $15.81 billion, although it fell short of revenue expectations.
• Merck & Co., Inc. recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, translating to an annual dividend yield of 3.6% with a payout ratio of approximately 49.92%.

Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 76.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,771 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,343 shares during the period. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $89.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $111.58. The firm's 50 day moving average is $82.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.52.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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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