Hilltop National Bank Buys Shares of 10,618 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Hilltop National Bank acquired 10,618 shares of Merck & Co., Inc., valued at approximately $841,000, in the second quarter of the year.
• Merck's average price target has been dropped to $90.00 by Berenberg Bank, alongside similar reductions by **Morgan Stanley** and **Wells Fargo & Company**.
• Merck & Co., Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with an annual yield of 3.6%, to be paid on October 7th.

Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 10,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $841,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Red Mountain Financial LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 6,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,045,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $161,895,000 after purchasing an additional 244,520 shares in the last quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 5,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,669 shares of the company's stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 14,703 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $89.45 on Friday. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $112.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $82.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.73.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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