Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Sells 169,105 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Sonora Investment Management Group LLC significantly reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 96.2%, selling 169,105 shares and leaving it with just 6,692 shares valued at $530,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Institutional investors control 76.07% of Merck's stock, with other firms like Vanguard and Charles Schwab increasing their positions considerably in the first quarter.
• Merck's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.13, beating expectations, while the company announced a dividend of $0.81 per share, reflecting a 4.1% dividend yield.

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 96.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,692 shares of the company's stock after selling 169,105 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $530,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $78.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $114.79. The firm has a market cap of $196.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $82.53 and its 200 day moving average is $81.81.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.41.

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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