Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $42.65 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 538,817 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,775 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $42,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup began 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $86.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 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 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.59 and its 200-day moving average is $81.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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.