Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Stock Position Increased by Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,118 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 773 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $300,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,163,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the period. McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.2% during the second quarter. McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,703,000 after purchasing an additional 11,666 shares during the period. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the second quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.1% during the second quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 5,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $83.93 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.07. 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 company has a market capitalization of $209.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup initiated 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 reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.