Legal Advantage Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Legal Advantage Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 126.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,040 shares during the period. Legal Advantage Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in 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. Amundi raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in 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, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

MRK stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.47 and a 200 day moving average of $81.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.