Moser Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Moser Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 629 shares during the quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $87.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.48. 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 has a market cap of $217.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $106.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.