Triton Financial Group Inc Purchases Shares of 14,003 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Triton Financial Group Inc. acquired 14,003 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. ($MRK) valued at approximately $1,108,000 during the second quarter.
• Merck's stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $104.33, as indicated by various Wall Street analysts.
• The company reported earnings of $2.13 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding the analysts' consensus estimate of $2.03.

Triton Financial Group Inc purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,108,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock worth $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8%

MRK opened at $86.30 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $84.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.35. 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 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. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $109.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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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