Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $6.08 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,755 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,697 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Saiph Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0%

MRK opened at $87.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $218.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $107.36. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.