GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• GLOBALT Investments LLC GA reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the second quarter, now holding 61,053 shares valued at $4.83 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently downgraded their ratings for Merck, with Berenberg Bank lowering its rating from "buy" to "hold" and adjusting the price target from $100 to $90.
• Merck reported earnings per share of $2.13 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, but revenue fell slightly short of forecasts at $15.81 billion.

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,053 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,382 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank lowered 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 note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:MRK opened at $87.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $84.37 and a 200 day moving average of $81.48. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $106.62.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm 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. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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