Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Takes $490,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first 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. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first 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, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $87.25 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $106.62. The company has a market cap of $217.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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.