M. Kraus & Co Decreases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

M. Kraus & Co cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,542 shares of the company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. M. Kraus & Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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 cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $87.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $218.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly 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 business 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. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. 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.