180 Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,599 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,970 shares during the quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.25 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $106.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently 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.