Truvestments Capital LLC Has $315,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Truvestments Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 545 shares during the quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $84.16 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.04. The company has a market capitalization of $210.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors 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 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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.