Burt Wealth Advisors Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Burt Wealth Advisors lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,543 shares of the company’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th 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. American Assets Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Visionary Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 12,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 593,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,070,000 after purchasing an additional 126,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 143,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,297,000 after purchasing an additional 45,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $81.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.66. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $119.38.

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 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 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

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.