Abacus Wealth Partners LLC Sells 144 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Abacus Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,081 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

MRK stock opened at $81.41 on Friday. 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’s 50 day moving average is $82.79 and its 200 day moving average is $82.42. The stock has a market cap of $203.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $118.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 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.