UMB Bank n.a. Has $10.18 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• UMB Bank n.a. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.3% during Q2, now holding 128,576 shares valued at approximately $10.18 million.
• Merck's recent quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.13, exceeding analysts' expectations, with projected FY 2025 EPS guidance set at $8.870-$8.970.
• The company's upcoming dividend payout of $0.81 per share will be distributed on October 7th, representing an annualized yield of 4.0%.

UMB Bank n.a. reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,698 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $991,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.49 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.92. 6,556,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,001,043. The stock has a market cap of $199.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $116.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio 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.