Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 270,155 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,322 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st 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 during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $991,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently issued reports 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. 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 report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.
Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8%
MRK opened at $86.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $109.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.35. 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 – Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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.
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