Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC Has $201,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,538 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.1% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 52,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,186,000 after acquiring an additional 13,746 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 538,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,609,000 after buying an additional 11,234 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% in the second quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 46,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,708,000 after buying an additional 4,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $87.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $218.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $106.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results 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. The business 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. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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.