HORAN Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

HORAN Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,188,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 35,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 5,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 981,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,702,000 after buying an additional 42,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 194,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,377,000 after buying an additional 38,822 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6%

MRK stock opened at $84.39 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.95. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07. The company has a market cap of $210.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side 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 the company’s 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 owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.