GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0%, owning 179,121 shares worth approximately $14.18 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their stakes in Merck, with notable increases including Brighton Jones LLC and Stanley Laman Group Ltd. at 29.5% and 71.2% respectively in recent quarters.
• Merck's stock currently has a mixed consensus from analysts, with an average target price of $104.31 and a majority rating of "Hold" while noting a recent decrease in price targets by some analysts.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,121 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,926 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company's stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $223,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 71.2% in the first quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 6,814 shares of the company's stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.5% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 25,016 shares of the company's stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,349 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $86.02 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $83.47 and its 200 day moving average is $81.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $111.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.88 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 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.

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