Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,360 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after buying an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after buying an additional 3,542,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $258,267,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded up $2.62 on Thursday, reaching $94.07. The company had a trading volume of 2,873,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,460,993. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.90 and its 200 day moving average is $82.25. The company has a market cap of $233.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven 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 a consensus target price of $104.50.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.