First Dallas Securities Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

First Dallas Securities Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 42.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,927 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,737 shares during the quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.08. 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.