Premier Fund Managers Ltd Invests $11.41 Million in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 107,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,405,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 6,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 5,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 7,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 142,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,002,000 after acquiring an additional 18,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total transaction of $4,556,870.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,368,240.08. This trade represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $1,828,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,583,278.39. This trade represents a 41.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 189,258 shares of company stock valued at $22,663,993. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of 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 note on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $113.53 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.12. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $125.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick 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) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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 research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.