Brighton Jones LLC Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,883 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,746 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 182,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,409,000 after acquiring an additional 14,980 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 84.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,907,000 after acquiring an additional 826,385 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 15,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.6% during the first quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $87.54 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $106.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.56. 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 $218.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 firm 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

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.