Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Stock Position Trimmed by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 268,371 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,261 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.6% of Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $87.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $218.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.55. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $106.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

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