Guild Investment Management Inc. Invests $3.18 Million in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Guild Investment Management Inc. invested approximately $3.18 million to acquire 39,760 shares of Merck & Co., Inc., making it the 11th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Merck, with Vanguard Group Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. notably boosting their ownership significantly in the first quarter.
• Merck recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13, exceeding expectations, but has a consensus target price of $104.31, with various analysts maintaining a "Hold" rating.

Guild Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 39,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,180,000. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.8% of Guild Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first 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. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3%

MRK stock opened at $87.63 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.53. The company has a market capitalization of $218.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $111.58.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

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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