Orion Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Orion Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 313.3% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 52,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 13,746 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 538,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,609,000 after purchasing an additional 11,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.54 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $106.49. The stock has a market cap of $218.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current 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.