Genesis Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 348 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Genesis Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 348 shares during the period. Genesis Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4%

MRK stock opened at $79.62 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $116.02. The stock has a market cap of $198.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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 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. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.