Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,361 shares of the company’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $89.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.61. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $111.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.