Cigna Investments Inc. New Has $1.96 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Cigna Investments Inc. New decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 772 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $398,000. LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $259,000. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $79.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $116.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.23. The company has a market cap of $199.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, 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 results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. 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.