Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Zuckerman Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• Zuckerman Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% in Q1, owning a total of 74,799 shares valued at approximately $6.71 million.
• Merck's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with one Strong Buy, six Buys, twelve Holds, and one Sell, while its average target price is $107.44.
• Merck recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, yielding around 3.8%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 15th.

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,799 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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 lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0%

MRK stock traded down $0.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.24. 14,481,452 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,252,589. The business's 50 day moving average price is $82.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.30. 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 capitalization of $207.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.