Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Sells 2,880 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,880 shares during the quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Little House Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after acquiring an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.30 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.75. The company has a market capitalization of $215.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

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.