Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) EVP David Michael Williams Sells 8,614 Shares

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $83.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.94. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $209.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.47.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $2,858,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.