Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Has $1.13 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,248 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $258,267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $92.94 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.43. The company has a market cap of $230.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank cut shares of 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.50.

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

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.