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 lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 53.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock worth $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock worth $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 21,547,758 shares of the company's stock worth $2,143,571,000 after buying an additional 3,791,737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $82.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $206.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $82.93 and its 200 day moving average is $82.75. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $119.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.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. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

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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