Savant Capital LLC Sells 137,676 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Savant Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 60.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 88,272 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137,676 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 249,110 shares during the period. DLD Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,873,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,166,000 after purchasing an additional 805,201 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,659,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,733,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $118.49 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $116.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.38, a PEG 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 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 issued 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 firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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