Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Gibbs Wealth Management

Gibbs Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 147.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,506 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,447 shares during the quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,731,000 after purchasing an additional 24,576 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 97,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,296,000 after purchasing an additional 32,114 shares during the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 252,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,543,000 after buying an additional 28,635 shares in the last quarter. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP now owns 23,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after buying an additional 11,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,301,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,022,000 after buying an additional 320,143 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. CICC Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $130.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $121.27 and its 200 day moving average is $117.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $322.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $76.66 and a one year high of $131.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 95.77%.

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.