Boston Partners Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Boston Partners lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 761,105 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,030 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $60,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised 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 during the period. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut 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 assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $91.43 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.07. 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 stock has a market cap of $226.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $84.90 and a 200-day moving average of $82.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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.