Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Has $737,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.4%, owning 8,210 shares valued at approximately $737,000 after selling 3,752 shares in the first quarter.
• Merck reported an earnings per share of $2.13 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue of $15.81 billion.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share on October 7th, with a current dividend yield of 3.8%.

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 31.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,752 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the period. Quilter Plc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,988,000 after purchasing an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock worth $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $1.1030 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $87.1830. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,973,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,141,414. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $217.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $81.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.11.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 the consensus estimate 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 fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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