Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Invests $490,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd has invested approximately $490,000 in Merck & Co., Inc., acquiring 6,191 shares during the 2nd quarter, according to its recent SEC filing.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" for Merck, with a target price averaging $104.33, while various reports have made recent adjustments to their ratings and price targets.
• Merck reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13 for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations, and has a market capitalization of $217.92 billion.

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Little House Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,998,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Quilter Plc boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,988,000 after purchasing an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,327,000 after purchasing an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 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 research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.25 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $84.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.48. 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 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $106.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.

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