Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Has $295,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Stanley Laman Group Ltd. has reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.3%, holding 3,730 shares valued at $295,000.
• Notable institutional investors have increased their positions in Merck, with Vanguard Group acquiring an additional 1.4 million shares, bringing its total to over $22.6 billion in value.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which equates to a 3.8% yield based on an annualized payout of $3.24.

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,730 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,084 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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 valued at $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $991,553,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $84.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business's 50 day moving average price is $83.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.35. The company has a market cap of $211.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $109.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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, 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 was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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