Kelleher Financial Advisors Has $816,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Kelleher Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,307 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,871 shares during the quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $48,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 4.8%

NYSE MRK opened at $90.91 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.47.

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.