WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $2.32 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,360 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 282.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 30,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 22,263 shares in the last quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the first quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,467,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,958,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the first quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 9,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.50.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $2.62 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $94.07. 2,873,657 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,460,993. 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. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.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 company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.