Liberty One Investment Management LLC Purchases 11,875 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.9%, owning a total of 54,397 shares valued at approximately $4.3 million.
• Significant institutional investors like Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. and Pacer Advisors Inc. have also heavily increased their stakes, with 76.07% of Merck's stock owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets on Merck, with Wells Fargo reducing it from $97 to $90, while the average price target across analysts remains at $104.33.

Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,397 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,875 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $86.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $84.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $109.17. The company has a market cap of $215.56 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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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