US Bancorp DE Sells 115,264 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

US Bancorp DE decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,702,210 shares of the company's stock after selling 115,264 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.07% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $134,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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 objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $86.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $215.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business's 50-day moving average is $83.15 and its 200-day moving average is $81.56. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 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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