Xponance Inc. Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Xponance Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 411,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,686 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $34,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% during the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $119.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $112.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.97. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $125.14. The stock has a market cap of $294.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 44.57%. The business had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $1,828,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,197 shares in the company, valued at $2,583,278.39. This represents a 41.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.41, for a total value of $1,184,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 70,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,361,522.15. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.