Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $48.75 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 615,844 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,349 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $48,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the second 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 bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $93.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $230.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. 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 fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The company’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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.50.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.