Hall Laurie J Trustee Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Hall Laurie J Trustee has reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.9%, now holding 18,584 shares valued at approximately $1.47 million.
• Analysts have recently lowered target prices for Merck, with Wells Fargo reducing its target from $97.00 to $90.00, indicating a more cautious outlook.
• Merck announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, with an annual yield of 4.0%, to be paid on October 7th.

Hall Laurie J Trustee decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 15.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,584 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,520 shares during the period. Hall Laurie J Trustee's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $80.44 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $118.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock's fifty day moving average is $82.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. 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 fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 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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