Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,170 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $375,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 153,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,439,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 41,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,662,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,566,000 after acquiring an additional 15,836 shares during the period. Finally, Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $488,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MRK opened at $81.60 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $119.20. The firm has a market cap of $203.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.57. 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm 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. On average, analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.