WBH Advisory Inc. Sells 656 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

WBH Advisory Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.30 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $109.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. 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 target price for the company. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

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.