Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,329 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,329 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st 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 period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Saturday. 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 objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.56. The company has a market cap of $218.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $106.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.