State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 850,055 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,014 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $67,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4%

MRK opened at $87.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $106.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS 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 analyst estimates 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. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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.