Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

Key Points

• GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.7% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 9,497 shares, bringing its total holdings to worth $4,573,000.
• Merck recently announced a $0.81 quarterly dividend, which will be paid on October 7th, representing an annualized yield of 4.0%.
• Analysts have generally rated Merck stock as a "Hold," with a consensus target price of $106.41, despite some firms lowering their price objectives recently.

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 19.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,764 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,497 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered 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 report on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $81.41 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $203.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.79 and a 200-day moving average of $82.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $118.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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