Eastern Bank Reduces Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Eastern Bank has decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3%, now holding 271,365 shares worth approximately $21.5 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their holdings in Merck, with Charles Schwab raising its position by 144.6% during the first quarter.
• Merck's stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $104.31, following recent downgrades from some analysts.

Eastern Bank cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271,365 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,160 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $86.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.47 and a 200 day moving average of $81.51. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $111.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. 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 dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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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