Burney Co. Has $3.56 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Burney Co. decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,968 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,446 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $258,267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 4.0%

MRK opened at $82.51 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.51 and a 200-day moving average of $81.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $206.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The business’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. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.47.

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.