Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 460 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. Doliver Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the first quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.5% in the first quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 10,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,054 shares during the period. Finally, New Hampshire Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the first quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 52,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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, Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $78.51 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.90. The company has a market cap of $196.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. 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 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $114.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business 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. 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 declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.