Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Purchases 688 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,677 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 688 shares during the quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first 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 bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the first 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first 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 bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $86.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $109.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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 initiated 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 reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

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.