Emerald Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Emerald Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 152.7%, acquiring a total of 12,984 shares worth approximately $1,028,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Institutional investors now hold 76.07% of Merck's stock, with several firms, including Brighton Jones LLC and NBC Securities Inc., also significantly increasing their positions in recent months.
• Merck recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13, exceeding analysts' expectations, while the company has set a FY 2025 EPS guidance of $8.870 to $8.970.

Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 152.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,984 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,845 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 6,431 shares of the company's stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 97,672.3% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 45,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,124,000 after acquiring an additional 45,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $564,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $195.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $82.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.69. 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. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $114.79.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 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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