Phoenix Wealth Advisors Sells 20,525 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Phoenix Wealth Advisors decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 77.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,036 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,525 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned 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 $104.50.

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

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

MRK stock opened at $92.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07. The company has a market cap of $230.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a PEG 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 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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.