Fielder Capital Group LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Fielder Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 143.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,567 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,641 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. United Financial Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. High Note Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $115.28 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $116.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $284.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.18. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 95.77%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.