Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by Triglav Investments D.O.O.

Triglav Investments D.O.O. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 52.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 134,128 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 46,410 shares during the quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.6% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,246,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,654,000 after acquiring an additional 254,350 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 225,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,964,000 after purchasing an additional 34,243 shares during the period. Payne Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $885,000. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Aspen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Merck reported $2.04 EPS and $16.4B revenue, driven by strong Keytruda demand and growth in newer products; the beat underpins confidence in current cash flows. Business Wire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Large analyst upgrade: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $135 and moved to “overweight” (~14% upside vs. current levels), which likely helped buying interest today. TickerReport: Wells Fargo upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile endorsement: Jim Cramer flagged Merck as a favorite pharmaceutical name and spoke positively about its ability to “spread out the wealth,” providing retail-visible support. MSN: Jim Cramer on Merck
• Neutral Sentiment: Other price-target bumps but still “neutral” ratings — Cantor Fitzgerald and Citigroup raised targets to $120 but kept neutral stances (small upside), which offers modest support but no conviction change. Benzinga: PT raises
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call / transcripts available — management emphasized Keytruda strength and pipeline progress; transcripts provide detail for investors modeling product-by-product risk/reward. Seeking Alpha: Q4 call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious 2026 outlook pressured sentiment — management guided FY26 adjusted EPS to $5.00–$5.15 (consensus ~5.86) and revenue to $65.5B–$67.0B (below Street), which sparked earlier selling and trims near-term growth expectations. Reuters: 2026 guidance & patent concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Patent expirations and generics risk — Januvia and other drugs face loss of exclusivity this year, and management flagged that impact; investors should model increased generic pressure into FY26 estimates. CNBC: generics & guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term growth slowdown expected as Merck invests and pursues acquisitions — coverage notes management expects slower earnings growth as it spends on deals and navigates pipeline inflection points. WSJ: slower growth & acquisitions

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $118.35 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $120.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.66. The company has a market capitalization of $293.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 45.22%. The business had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 44.91%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.