Riverview Trust Co Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Riverview Trust Co significantly reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 79.1% during the second quarter, ending with 2,225 shares valued at $176,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Merck, with Philip James Wealth Management LLC growing its stake by 104% and now owning 191,874 shares.
• Merck's stock recently faced ratings downgrades from analysts, with Berenberg Bank lowering its rating from "buy" to "hold" and cutting the price target from $100 to $90.

Riverview Trust Co decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 79.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,225 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,431 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 104.0% during the 2nd quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 191,874 shares of the company's stock worth $15,189,000 after acquiring an additional 97,798 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 106,928 shares of the company's stock worth $8,547,000 after acquiring an additional 5,768 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 130.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock worth $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 30,910 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,004 shares of the company's stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,163,417 shares of the company's stock worth $250,416,000 after buying an additional 556,891 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. 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 research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $90.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $114.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $82.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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 given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 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.

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