Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 381 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,871 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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 cut 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $85.64 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $111.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.40. The company has a market capitalization of $213.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.