Viawealth LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Viawealth LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,232 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,272 shares during the quarter. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $48,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $105.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.22. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $262.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.