Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd Purchases New Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. DLD Asset Management LP increased its stake 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 valued at $3,986,675,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000,000 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $585,192,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,665,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,821,766 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 15,933,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,336,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,735,459 shares during the period. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $264,609,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Barclays initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to calderasib (MK-1084) with Keytruda in a lung cancer indication, a sign the program may move faster and expand Merck’s oncology growth prospects. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage and recent articles highlighted Merck’s newer drugs, pipeline assets, and M&A options as potential offsets to looming Keytruda patent expiration, reinforcing the bull case for long-term growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Merck has also been drawing investor attention as a trending stock and has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past year, suggesting market confidence remains relatively strong. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Merck will participate in the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference, which could provide an update on strategy but is not itself a major business catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholders backed board nominees, pay, and auditor ratification at the annual meeting, which reduces governance uncertainty but is unlikely to move the stock much. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The main longer-term concern remains Keytruda’s eventual loss of exclusivity, which could pressure Merck’s biggest revenue driver if replacement products do not scale quickly enough. Article Title

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE MRK opened at $118.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $292.66 billion, a PE ratio of 33.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.18. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year high of $125.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 95.77%.

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.