Linscomb Wealth Inc. Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,691 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,277 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,527,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,232,000 after purchasing an additional 37,142 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,343,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,686,000 after purchasing an additional 66,976 shares during the period. Triglav Investments D.O.O. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O. now owns 134,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,257,000 after buying an additional 46,410 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,246,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,654,000 after buying an additional 254,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 225,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,964,000 after buying an additional 34,243 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Merck & Co., Inc. News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:MRK opened at $118.35 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.66. The company has a market capitalization of $293.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.91%.

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.