Keybank National Association OH Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 853,050 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,955 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $102,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,737,504,000 after buying an additional 1,859,990 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after buying an additional 11,156,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,307,572,000 after buying an additional 249,110 shares during the period. Finally, DLD Asset Management LP boosted its position in 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 worth $3,986,675,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $129.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $117.04 and its 200-day moving average is $115.27. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.66 and a 1 year high of $130.29. The stock has a market cap of $319.44 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.