Occidental Asset Management LLC Has $3.83 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.6% in Q2, now owning 48,439 shares valued at approximately $3.83 million.
• Merck's stock is currently rated as a "Hold" by analysts, with a consensus price target of $106.41 following multiple downgrades in price targets from brokerages.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 4.0%, with a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 230.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,439 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,785 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Little House Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the first 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 during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the first 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 during the period. Quilter Plc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after purchasing an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3%

MRK opened at $80.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $118.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $82.72 and its 200 day moving average is $82.24. The stock has a market cap of $200.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 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.

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