RWA Wealth Partners LLC Sells 392,016 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

RWA Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 71.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,968 shares of the company’s stock after selling 392,016 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $86.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.59 and its 200-day moving average is $82.04. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.47.

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.