SPC Financial Inc. Has $1.25 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

SPC Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,786 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,577 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $111.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $83.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.47. The company has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, 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 released its 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 the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.