Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH

Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,042 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,652 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 13,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 493,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,273,000 after acquiring an additional 76,223 shares during the period. Finally, Bright Rock Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 142,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,746,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.51. The stock has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $111.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.