Thomas Story & Son LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Thomas Story & Son LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 54,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,000. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.7% of Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Little House Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after purchasing an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1%

MRK opened at $93.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $85.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.38. 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. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.