Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by Haven Private LLC

Haven Private LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 47.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,311 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Haven Private LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the first 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 raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $86.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $84.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.