Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Holdings Boosted by Barry Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Barry Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.9% during the second quarter, now owning 18,772 shares valued at approximately $1.5 million.
• Analysts have cut target prices for Merck's stock, with Wells Fargo reducing it from $97 to $90, while the consensus rating remains a "Hold" with an average target price of $106.41.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.1%.

Barry Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 49.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,772 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,249 shares during the period. Barry Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $991,553,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $78.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.90. The company has a market cap of $196.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $114.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued 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 yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.