Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 401,045 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 252,914,426 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 401,045 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $20,020,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $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 purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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

In related 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.0%

MRK opened at $92.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.43. The company has a market capitalization of $230.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Scotiabank started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.