First Hawaiian Bank Sells 10,434 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• First Hawaiian Bank has reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 53.5%, selling 10,434 shares and holding 9,054 shares worth approximately $813,000.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which represents an annualized dividend of $3.24 and a yield of 3.9%.
• Institutional investors own 76.07% of Merck's stock, with notable transactions including a 144.6% increase in holdings by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

First Hawaiian Bank lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 53.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,054 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,434 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.41. The company had a trading volume of 25,594,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,025,118. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $118.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's 50 day moving average is $82.79 and its 200-day moving average is $82.50.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.