Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 125,886 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 683,912 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125,886 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $57,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $285,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 617.0% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 3,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 369.8% during the first quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 25,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after purchasing an additional 19,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 14,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 1,476 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $110.91 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $112.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $275.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $99.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 44.91%.

Merck & Co., Inc. News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on MRK to $130 and kept a “buy” rating, signaling meaningful upside and lending near-term buy-side conviction. UBS Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merck
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Merck is in talks to acquire cancer biotech Revolution Medicines (FT/Reuters) have been interpreted as strategic M&A that could expand Merck’s oncology pipeline and revenue optionality. Merck in talks to buy Revolution Medicines
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades continue: Wolfe Research moved MRK from “peer perform” to “outperform” with a $135 target, reinforcing the bullish analyst momentum that supports higher valuations. Analyst upgrade coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target (to $110) but maintained a “neutral” rating — a modest tweak that offers limited directional guidance compared with the UBS/Wolfe moves. Citigroup Forecasts for Merck
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst roundup and positive coverage pieces (e.g., Benzinga’s 10-analyst summary, Zacks growth-feature) are increasing attention on MRK but largely echo the same drivers: pipeline strength, strong cash flows and health-care sector tailwinds. Analysts share their views
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/public-health risk: Merck urged any U.S. childhood immunization schedule changes be science-led after the CDC trimmed some universally recommended shots — a development that could introduce uncertainty for vaccine uptake and revenue if recommendations shift. Merck urges science-led vaccine schedule

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.