Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Generali Investments Management Co LLC

Generali Investments Management Co LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 30.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,273 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,911 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

MRK opened at $93.00 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.38. 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 cap of $230.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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 shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.50.

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.