Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,883 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,746 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 538,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,609,000 after buying an additional 11,234 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,893,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 46,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,708,000 after buying an additional 4,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 94,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4%

MRK opened at $87.54 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $106.49. 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 stock has a market cap of $218.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

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.