Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC has reduced its stock position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 66.8%, selling 151,576 shares and now holding 75,233 shares valued at approximately $5,955,000.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their stakes in Merck recently, with holdings now represented by 76.07% of the company's stock among institutions and hedge funds.
• Merck's quarterly earnings exceeded estimates with an EPS of $2.13, and the company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 with a yield of 3.6%.

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 66.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,233 shares of the company's stock after selling 151,576 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Little House Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company's stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Quilter Plc raised 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 valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $88.83 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.48.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm 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 is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend 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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