Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $77.70 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 981,679 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,380 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $77,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $84.39 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.95. The company has a market capitalization of $210.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.