Tcfg Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Tcfg Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,979 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,570 shares during the quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.0% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 83,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,469,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% in the first quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 28,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares during the last quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 46.8% in the first quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 186,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,713,000 after acquiring an additional 59,369 shares during the period. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 200,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,001,000 after purchasing an additional 3,794 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4%

MRK opened at $88.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.48. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $111.58. 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 issued 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 company 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. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.31.

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.