Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Heck Capital Advisors LLC

Heck Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 853.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,526 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,261 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.0% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 83,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,469,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares during the period. Werlinich Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% in the first quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 28,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 186,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,713,000 after buying an additional 59,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 200,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,001,000 after purchasing an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $88.83 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $111.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. 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.