Bernstein Starts Coverage of Merck with Cautious Outlook
On October 17, 2024, Bernstein began its analysis of Merck (LSE:0QAH), issuing a Market Perform recommendation.
Analysts Predict Significant Upside Potential
According to data from September 25, 2024, analysts have set the average one-year price target for Merck at 144.06 GBX per share. This figure represents a potential increase of 31.09% from the recent closing price of 109.90 GBX. Price forecasts vary, with estimates ranging from a low of 127.42 GBX to a high of 164.26 GBX.
For a broader perspective, see our leaderboard of companies with the largest potential price increases.
Merck’s Projected Revenue and Earnings
The anticipated annual revenue for Merck stands at 62,221MM, indicating a slight decrease of 0.41%. Additionally, the expected annual non-GAAP EPS is 8.65.
Institutional Interest in Merck
Recent data reveals that 5,087 funds or institutions currently hold shares in Merck, reflecting an increase of 28 owners, or 0.55%, over the past quarter. On average, these funds allocate about 0.74% of their portfolios to this stock, which is an increase of 10.18%. In the last three months, total shares owned by institutions rose by 3.55%, reaching 2,164,637K shares.
The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares, known as VTSMX, holds 80,020K shares, which equates to 3.16% ownership of Merck. This is up slightly from the previous 79,658K shares, showing an increase of 0.45%. However, VTSMX reduced its allocation in Merck by 8.35% in the past quarter.
Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 72,482K shares, representing 2.86% of the company. This is a significant decline from their last report of 86,348K shares, or a decrease of 19.13%. Their portfolio allocation in Merck also slipped drastically by 88.82% over the last quarter.
The Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares (VFINX) has increased its holdings to 65,007K shares (2.56% ownership), up from 63,859K shares with a rise of 1.77%, but also reduced its allocation by 9.59% recently.
Geode Capital Management holds 57,021K shares, giving them 2.25% ownership. An increase of 1.07% from 56,411K shares was noted, but they too have decreased their allocation by 53.01% in the last quarter.
Moreover, Bank of America increased its holdings to 39,280K shares, an 8.32% rise from 36,012K shares; nevertheless, they cut back their portfolio allocation in Merck by 76.01% during the same period.
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This story originally appeared on Fintel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
