SageView Advisory Group LLC Sells 7,002 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• SageView Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.8%, selling 7,002 shares and now holding 17,351 shares valued at $1,557,000.
• Merck's earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.13, exceeding estimates by $0.10, although revenue fell short of expectations at $15.81 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with a yield of 3.9%, set to be paid on October 7th.

SageView Advisory Group LLC cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 28.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,351 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,002 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased 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 valued at $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc increased 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 valued at $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased 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 valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 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 $119.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $82.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.95. The firm has a market cap of $209.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 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 business 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. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

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.

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