Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.4% in Q2, selling 8,886 shares and holding 30,839 shares valued at approximately $2.44 million.
• Several other large investors, including Little House Capital LLC and Simplicity Wealth LLC, have also adjusted their holdings, with some increasing their stakes significantly.
• Merck's stock was recently rated as a "Hold" by multiple analysts, with a consensus price target of $106.41 despite a recent downgrade by Berenberg Bank.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 22.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,839 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,886 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Little House Capital LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. 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 on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3%

MRK stock opened at $89.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.69. The firm has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 0.92 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 the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.