Capstone Capital Management Ltd Invests $793,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Capstone Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $793,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. DLD Asset Management LP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 11,000,000 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $585,192,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,665,585,000 after buying an additional 2,821,766 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 15,933,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,336,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735,459 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.1%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $112.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.94 and a 200 day moving average of $109.54. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year high of $125.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $278.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

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.