Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 710.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 733,753 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 643,255 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $58,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 10,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 29,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $87.54 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $218.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $106.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.