Calamos Wealth Management LLC Has $1.14 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Calamos Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,630 shares during the quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $888,000. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the first quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 45,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,068,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% in the first quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 2,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $84.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $211.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $109.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.31. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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.