RNC Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

RNC Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 371,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,163 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $29,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during 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 purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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 reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0%

MRK opened at $87.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $218.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. 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. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $107.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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, equities research analysts anticipate 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.