Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. Purchases New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $398,000. Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 4,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $103,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $6,183,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $81.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $203.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.37. 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. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $118.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.

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.