Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,952,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 704,589 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,651,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $90.91 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.07. The firm has a market cap of $225.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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.