D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 6,034 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 545,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,034 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $43,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.5%

MRK opened at $87.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is $84.18 and its 200 day moving average is $81.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.