CW Advisors LLC Purchases 63,404 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.4%, owning a total of 294,544 shares valued at $26.51 million after purchasing an additional 63,404 shares during the first quarter.
• Merck's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.13, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.03, although revenue of $15.81 billion fell short of expectations.
• The company declared a dividend of $0.81 per share, with a payout ratio of 49.92%, highlighting a yield of 3.8% for shareholders.

CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 27.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,544 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 63,404 shares during the quarter. CW Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $26,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Saiph Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.1030 on Friday, reaching $87.1830. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,973,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,141,414. The company has a market capitalization of $217.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $81.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.07. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $120.30. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

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.