Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Has $14 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8%, owning 176,885 shares worth approximately $14 million as of the latest quarter.
• Merck reported a quarterly earnings of $2.13 EPS, beating estimates, with a total revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, slightly below forecast.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, resulting in an annual yield of 3.6%, set to be paid on October 7th.

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,885 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,486 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.9% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $89.25 on Monday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $82.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.52. 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 firm has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 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 analyst estimates 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. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped 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 report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.41.

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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