Legal Advantage Investments Inc. Acquires 5,040 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Legal Advantage Investments Inc. significantly increased its stake in Merck & Co., acquiring an additional 5,040 shares to hold a total of 9,040 shares, valued at approximately $716,000.
• Recent analyst reports reflect a downgrade in ratings for Merck & Co., with Berenberg Bank changing its position from "buy" to "hold" and lowering the price target from $100 to $90.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of approximately 49.92%.

Legal Advantage Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 126.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,040 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,040 shares during the quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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 objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.47 and a 200 day moving average of $81.47. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. 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.

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