Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by MOKAN Wealth Management Inc.

Key Points

• MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. increased its Merck & Co., Inc. holdings by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter, owning 59,389 shares valued at approximately $4.7 million.
• Several other institutions also boosted their stakes in Merck, with institutional investors and hedge funds now owning 76.07% of the company's stock.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.8%.

MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,389 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,568 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 2.6% of MOKAN Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Little House Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,998,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

MRK stock opened at $86.02 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $111.58. The company 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 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend 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.

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