Hudson Value Partners LLC Sells 21,628 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Hudson Value Partners LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.0%, selling 21,628 shares and now holding 61,683 shares, representing about 1.7% of its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and Charles Schwab, increased their holdings in Merck during the first quarter, indicating strong interest in the stock.
• Merck announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.6%, and reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding expectations.

Hudson Value Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 26.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,683 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,628 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.7% of Hudson Value Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Hudson Value Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 7.4%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $90.13 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $114.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.77. The firm has a market cap of $225.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. 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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