Vontobel Holding Ltd. Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 382,066 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,364 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $30,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1%

MRK stock opened at $87.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $218.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 0.89 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.53. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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, Berenberg Bank lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.31.

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.