Payden & Rygel Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Payden & Rygel lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5,234.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197,910 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194,200 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 313.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 17,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $122.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $123.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.28.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.88, for a total value of $2,437,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 80,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,825,356.20. The trade was a 19.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total transaction of $14,485,422.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 68,916 shares in the company, valued at $8,211,341.40. This trade represents a 63.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.