Morningstar Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 10,924 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 10,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the second quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saiph Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the first quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $85.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $213.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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