Tyche Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,139 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,618 shares during the quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $88.83 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.48. The firm 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 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors 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 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.