Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Sells 887 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,130 shares of the company’s stock after selling 887 shares during the quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE:MRK opened at $92.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 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 $105.07. The company has a market cap of $230.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $85.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.33.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.50.

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.