Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Has $2.27 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 784 shares during the quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $88.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.48. The firm has a market cap of $221.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut 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 research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.31.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.