D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $43.22 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 545,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,034 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $43,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 16,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 270,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,382,000 after buying an additional 6,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 538,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,638,000 after buying an additional 28,237 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of 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. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of MRK opened at $87.61 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $107.36. The company has a market cap of $218.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. 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. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.