Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 834,024 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,658 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $87,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. High Note Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $115.10 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $116.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.46. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.66 and a 12-month high of $125.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $284.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.