Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.1% during the 1st quarter, owning a total of 57,510 shares worth $5,162,000.
• Merck recently reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analyst estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 to be paid on October 7th.
• Several analysts have lowered their target prices for Merck shares, with the average target now sitting at $107.44 and a consensus rating of "Hold."

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 28.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,510 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,616 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the first 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 21,547,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,143,571,000 after buying an additional 3,791,737 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,375,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,828,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $83.96. 12,553,252 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,332,990. The firm has a market cap of $209.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $120.30. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $82.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.