Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Position Increased by Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc.

Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,339 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.3% of Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 6.8%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $209.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. 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. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $114.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.71.

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 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.