Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,568 shares of the company’s stock after selling 807 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 331.5% in the second quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 613,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,587,000 after acquiring an additional 32,767 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 157,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,751 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% in the second quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 5,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Little House Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $81.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.66. 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 cap of $202.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $119.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

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.