CX Institutional Sells 18,031 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• CX Institutional reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.4%, selling 18,031 shares and bringing its total holdings to 107,334 shares valued at approximately $8.5 million.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their ratings on Merck, with Wells Fargo lowering its price target from $97.00 to $90.00 and maintaining an "equal weight" rating.
• Merck disclosed a recent quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.0%, set to be paid on October 7th to shareholders of record.

CX Institutional trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 14.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,334 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,031 shares during the period. CX Institutional's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. 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 lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $80.44. The company had a trading volume of 11,982,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,045,434. The company has a market capitalization of $200.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $118.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.