Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Has $2.06 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,987 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,254 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.46 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $114.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.37. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.41.

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.