Marco Investment Management LLC Has $7.72 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Marco Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 97,577 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP now owns 5,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.6% in the second quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 4,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% during the second quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 688,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,486,000 after purchasing an additional 59,877 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 137.8% during the second quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the second quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $86.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $215.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.