RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,141 shares during the period. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Arrowroot Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $215,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 249.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 88,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,019,000 after buying an additional 63,295 shares during the period. 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 valued at $8,743,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the second quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

MRK stock opened at $83.93 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.49 and its 200 day moving average is $81.94. The firm has a market cap of $209.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.47.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.