Old North State Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Old North State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,328 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Little House Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the period. Quilter Plc boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 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. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $194.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.09. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $114.79. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.