Short Interest in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Decreases By 14.6%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 28,729,402 shares, a drop of 14.6% from the January 15th total of 33,654,686 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 12,072,510 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 12,072,510 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $121.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $302.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.32. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $123.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 28.08%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. 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 note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.71.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, CFO Caroline Litchfield sold 41,997 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.61, for a total value of $5,023,261.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 90,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,787,865.12. The trade was a 31.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.88, for a total transaction of $2,437,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 80,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,825,356.20. This represents a 19.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,853 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,737,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,990 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after purchasing an additional 249,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.