Avaii Wealth Management LLC Invests $368,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Avaii Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.62 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $116.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $198.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.37.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

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.