Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 798 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $991,553,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.34 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $105.07. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $214.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.08.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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.