Aurdan Capital Management LLC Has $644,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Aurdan Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,981 shares during the quarter. Aurdan Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 120,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,273 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the second quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 4,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 8,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.9% in the second quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 52,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,191,000 after purchasing an additional 9,163 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2%

MRK opened at $86.15 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.82. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year 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 $215.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Analysts predict 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.