Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its ownership in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.2%, now holding approximately 1.36 million shares valued at $108 million.
• Analysts' ratings on Merck's stock show a mix of opinions, with one Strong Buy, five Buy, thirteen Hold, and one Sell, leading to an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.33.
• Merck announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, reflecting a 3.9% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,365,424 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,124 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $108,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, 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 for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $83.72 on Friday. 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. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $110.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.40. The company has a market capitalization of $209.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 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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