Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Mengis Capital Management Inc.

Mengis Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 56,293 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,576 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.9% of Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 13,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 13,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 23,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. 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 on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.1%

MRK stock opened at $87.38 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $111.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.