Tredje AP fonden Sells 347,631 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Tredje AP fonden lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 575,163 shares of the company’s stock after selling 347,631 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $45,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $258,267,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2%

MRK stock opened at $86.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $215.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.57 and a 200-day moving average of $81.82.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.