Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 151,576 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 66.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 75,233 shares of the company’s stock after selling 151,576 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $88.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $221.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $111.58. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $82.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.48.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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 expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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 decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.31.

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.