Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,728,673 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 208,042 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 4.9% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $392,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,737,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,990 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after purchasing an additional 249,110 shares during the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,731,018,000 after purchasing an additional 359,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, February 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.4%

MRK opened at $115.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $284.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.66 and a fifty-two week high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued 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 3.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.