Phoenix Financial Ltd. Has $3.65 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Phoenix Financial Ltd. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 50.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,017 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first 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 last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $87.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $107.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business 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. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.