Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Buys 106,380 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 347,289 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 106,380 shares during the quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $27,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $93.00 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $105.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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 net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.50.

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.