Fiduciary Family Office LLC Has $1.03 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Fiduciary Family Office LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.8% during Q2, holding 13,028 shares valued at approximately $1.03 million.
• Institutional investors control 76.07% of Merck's stock, with notable increases in holdings by Charles Schwab Investment Management and Pacer Advisors.
• Recent analyst reports have reflected a consensus rating of "Hold" for Merck, with price targets mostly lowered, indicating cautious market sentiment.

Fiduciary Family Office LLC reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,028 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,807 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8%

MRK stock opened at $86.30 on Tuesday. 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. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $109.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.35. The firm has a market cap of $215.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. 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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