Stack Financial Management Inc Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Stack Financial Management Inc lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 216,759 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,025 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.5% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $17,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Cypress Capital Group raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 53,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares during the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.5% during the second quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,702,000 after buying an additional 14,568 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.0% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 5,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 350.5% in the second quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 18,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 14,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellis Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.02 on Monday. The company 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. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $111.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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