Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Sendero Wealth Management LLC

Sendero Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,921 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $469,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Joule Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.7% in the second quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.3% in the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 60,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,776,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the second quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 176,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,002,000 after acquiring an additional 6,486 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the second quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 24,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.4% in the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 124,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,831,000 after acquiring an additional 34,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE MRK opened at $89.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.52. The company has a market capitalization of $222.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.