Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 331.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,575 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $81.07 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $119.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $82.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.68. The company has a market cap of $202.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.