Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Compound Planning Inc.

Compound Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 60.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,935 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,752 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,997,933,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,098,196,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the third quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,012,530,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $585,192,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MRK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, March 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Key Merck & Co., Inc. News

Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved an additional indication for CAPVAXIVE, Merck’s pneumococcal vaccine, expanding its use to children and adolescents ages 2 through 17 at increased risk for pneumococcal disease. The expanded label could support longer-term sales growth and reinforces Merck’s vaccine franchise. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Merck also announced broader corporate activity around AI drug discovery with Protillion Biosciences and a global HPV awareness campaign, which may help pipeline development and brand visibility over time but are not immediate revenue drivers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate survey from Merck Animal Health highlighted unmet needs in treating canine allergic skin disease, suggesting future product opportunity, but it is a relatively small and less immediate catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the FDA win, MRK has still been trading lower recently, reflecting broader weakness in the shares and suggesting investors may be waiting for more evidence that new and existing products can offset slower growth in other parts of the portfolio. Article Title

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $114.04 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.60. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.66 and a fifty-two week high of $125.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 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 Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 95.77%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.