Corient Private Wealth LLC Acquires 2,783,482 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 114.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,210,548 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,783,482 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $548,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,770,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during 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. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $6,307,572,000 after purchasing an additional 249,110 shares during the period. Finally, DLD Asset Management LP grew its holdings 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 valued at $3,986,675,000 after buying an additional 11,000,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $114.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $281.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.21. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $116.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.60. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $76.66 and a one year high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 95.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MRK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.18.

Key Stories Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

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

• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved an additional indication for CAPVAXIVE, Merck’s pneumococcal vaccine, expanding its use to children and adolescents ages 2 through 17 at increased risk for pneumococcal disease. The expanded label could support longer-term sales growth and reinforces Merck’s vaccine franchise. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Merck also announced broader corporate activity around AI drug discovery with Protillion Biosciences and a global HPV awareness campaign, which may help pipeline development and brand visibility over time but are not immediate revenue drivers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate survey from Merck Animal Health highlighted unmet needs in treating canine allergic skin disease, suggesting future product opportunity, but it is a relatively small and less immediate catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the FDA win, MRK has still been trading lower recently, reflecting broader weakness in the shares and suggesting investors may be waiting for more evidence that new and existing products can offset slower growth in other parts of the portfolio. Article Title

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.