Aurdan Capital Management LLC Has $644,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Aurdan Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,981 shares during the period. Aurdan Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 76,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,828,000 after purchasing an additional 9,562 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.1% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the period. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $144,000. Finally, Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.9% during the first quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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. Berenberg Bank lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, September 17th. 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 on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $215.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.57 and a 200-day moving average of $81.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.07.

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