OmniStar Financial Group Inc. Purchases 3,296 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,874 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Little House Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after acquiring an additional 79,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $93.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. 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 fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.50.

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.