Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9%, now owning 322,630 shares valued at approximately $25.5 million.
• Several other investors also boosted their holdings, contributing to institutional investors and hedge funds owning 76.07% of Merck's stock.
• Analysts have revised their price targets for Merck, with Wells Fargo lowering its target from $97 to $90, indicating a consensus "Hold" rating and an average price target of $104.31.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 322,630 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,484 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $25,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Summa Corp. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Summa Corp. now owns 5,360 shares of the company's stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. waypoint wealth counsel grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 164.7% in the 2nd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 8,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 131,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,434,000 after acquiring an additional 49,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natural Investments LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 13,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $86.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $83.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 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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