Glenview Trust co Acquires 29,536 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Glenview Trust Co. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.6%, acquiring an additional 29,536 shares, bringing its total ownership to 371,526 shares valued at $33.35 million.
• Merck reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13, surpassing the analyst estimate of $2.03, but its revenue of $15.81 billion fell short of expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, yielding 3.8%, with a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Glenview Trust co boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 371,526 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,536 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $33,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,791,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,375,974 shares of the company's stock worth $1,828,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE MRK opened at $84.71 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.95. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $119.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

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 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. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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