Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Retirement Planning Group LLC

Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,812 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the second quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 16,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.0% in the second quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 270,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,382,000 after acquiring an additional 6,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 538,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,638,000 after acquiring an additional 28,237 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $87.60 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $107.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $218.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup started coverage on 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. 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 report 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.