SP Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

SP Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,987 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,487 shares during the period. SP Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $258,267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6%

MRK opened at $84.39 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate 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.