Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Leelyn Smith LLC

Key Points

• Leelyn Smith LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.6% in Q2, owning 46,468 shares valued at approximately $3.68 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Merck, with Brighton Jones LLC and others significantly boosting their stakes, resulting in institutional investors owning 76.07% of the company.
• Merck's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.13, surpassing estimates, with analysts predicting a 2025 EPS guidance of 8.870-8.970.

Leelyn Smith LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,468 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company's stock worth $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 216.9% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 16,096 shares of the company's stock worth $1,445,000 after buying an additional 11,017 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.1% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 662,014 shares of the company's stock worth $59,422,000 after buying an additional 76,619 shares during the period. Finally, Hedges Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% in the first quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 18,700 shares of the company's stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup initiated 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 for the company. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.54 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $106.49. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $84.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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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