Ethic Inc. Buys 8,003 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during Q2, acquiring an additional 8,003 shares, which brought their total shares owned to 300,648 and valued at approximately $23.78 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. and Pacer Advisors Inc., also significantly boosted their positions in Merck during the first quarter, reflecting strong interest in the company.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Merck, with recent reports lowering price targets, leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.33.

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 300,648 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,003 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $258,267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $87.45 on Wednesday. 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. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $107.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $84.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.39.

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