Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Sells 488 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 488 shares during the period. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $398,000. Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 12,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 593,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,070,000 after buying an additional 126,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 143,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,297,000 after buying an additional 45,926 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $81.07 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $119.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $82.93 and its 200 day moving average is $82.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $202.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.