TIAA Trust National Association Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

TIAA Trust National Association decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 20.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 164,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,141 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 37,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,339,000 after acquiring an additional 8,921 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.5% during the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 7,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forte Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $86.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $215.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37. 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 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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.