Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Has $7.02 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 249.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,667 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,295 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 2.7% of Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 110,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,743,000 after buying an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.2% during the 2nd quarter. McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,703,000 after acquiring an additional 11,666 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.93 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’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 expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.47.

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.