Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,683 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $92.94 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 price of $85.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $230.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.