Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Has $2.59 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.1%, now holding about 32,655 shares valued at $2.59 million.
• Major institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab Investment Management, have increased their stakes in Merck during the first quarter, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 76.07%.
• Recent analyst ratings show mixed reviews for Merck, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and target price estimates ranging from $90.00 to $104.33.

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 25.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,655 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,944 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Amundi boosted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,553,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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 target price 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $87.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $217.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $106.62. 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $84.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.48.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Equities analysts forecast 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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