Allianz SE Buys 1,007 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Allianz SE grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,083 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the quarter. Allianz SE’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $43,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued 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 target price of $104.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $91.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $84.90 and its 200 day moving average is $82.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 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.