GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Acquires 6,926 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,121 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,926 shares during the quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Little House Capital LLC grew 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 buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.47. 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. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $111.58. The stock has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.31.

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.