Sylvest Advisors LLC Acquires 6,981 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Sylvest Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 150.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,612 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,981 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.5% of Sylvest Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Sylvest Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Guys Formula LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 22,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323 shares during the period. Avaii Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $368,000. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. McAdam LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 20,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the period. Finally, Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4%

MRK opened at $79.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $198.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $116.02. 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’s fifty day moving average is $82.63 and its 200 day moving average is $82.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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.