Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.

Key Points

• Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7%, selling 24,627 shares and ending with 142,564 shares valued at $11.29 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and Charles Schwab, have increased their stakes in Merck during the recent quarters.
• Merck's recent earnings reported $2.13 EPS, exceeding analyst estimates, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 with a yield of 3.9%.

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,564 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,627 shares during the quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 4,420 shares in the last quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 40,898 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,238,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 120,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,533,000 after buying an additional 10,237 shares in the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,390,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,987,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,001,000 after buying an additional 327,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $81.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,227,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,124,038. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.93 and a 200 day moving average of $82.68. The stock has a market cap of $202.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $119.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Investors 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 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.