Park National Corp OH Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Park National Corp OH lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,994 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $82.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $206.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.85. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $119.38. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. One 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.44.

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.