Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,278 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,731,000 after purchasing an additional 24,576 shares during the period. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 95.2% during the fourth quarter. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP now owns 23,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,450,000 after buying an additional 11,355 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 320,143 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,843,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,999,000 after acquiring an additional 224,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 410.5% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 705,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,255,000 after acquiring an additional 567,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Daiwa Securities Group raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David R. Maraldo sold 18,706 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.72, for a total value of $2,407,836.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,248.64. This represents a 50.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total transaction of $1,965,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,106,303. This trade represents a 24.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,238 shares of company stock valued at $29,977,783. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $135.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.19 and a 200-day moving average of $120.43. The company has a market cap of $333.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.27, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.58 and a 12-month high of $137.98.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $16.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 4.77%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 272.00%.

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.