Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 48,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,030 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $258,267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE MRK opened at $86.34 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $105.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.06. 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 has a market capitalization of $215.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.