Everpar Advisors LLC Sells 823 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Everpar Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 823 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds 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 first quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $81.07 on Tuesday. 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.