Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,568 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $877,000 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. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $90.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.07. The firm has a market cap of $225.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

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 company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.