Perigon Wealth Management LLC Has $4.86 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Perigon Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,408 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,663 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 64.3% during the second quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. now owns 35,794 shares of the company's stock worth $2,833,000 after purchasing an additional 14,009 shares during the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. now owns 2,945 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 150.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC now owns 11,612 shares of the company's stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 6,981 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 22,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,809,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avaii Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $368,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.70 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.09. The stock has a market cap of $194.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.37. 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 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $114.79.

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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report).

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.