Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,201 shares of the company’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,880,000 after acquiring an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 21,547,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,143,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791,737 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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 reduced their price target 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, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $81.07 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.68. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $119.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $202.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 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.