Glass Wealth Management Co LLC Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Glass Wealth Management Co LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.2% of Glass Wealth Management Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $258,267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $89.25 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $222.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $111.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.