Garde Capital Inc. Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Garde Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 62.6% to 2,207 shares, valued at approximately $175,000.
• Merck recently reported $2.13 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $15.81 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.9%.

Garde Capital Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 62.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,207 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,695 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first 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 first quarter valued at $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Berenberg Bank lowered 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 note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE MRK traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $82.02. 2,980,110 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,976,161. The business's 50 day moving average is $82.93 and its 200-day moving average is $82.66. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $119.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.37. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share 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 firm 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, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.