JT Stratford LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

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JT Stratford LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 192.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,658 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,268 shares during the quarter. JT Stratford LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% in the first quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 3,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 239.6% in the first quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 7,727 shares of the company's stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,452 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.4% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% in the first quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 6,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV now owns 25,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3%

MRK stock traded up $1.1030 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $87.1830. The stock had a trading volume of 11,973,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,391,381. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.30. The firm has a market cap of $217.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.