Denali Advisors LLC Invests $462,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chemung Canal Trust Co. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 76,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,407,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 47,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,991,000 after purchasing an additional 6,082 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.6% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 207,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,444,000 after purchasing an additional 18,187 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% during the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 7,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1%

MRK stock opened at $121.53 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $123.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share 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 45.22%. The company had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total transaction of $4,556,870.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,368,240.08. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Michael Williams sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.91, for a total value of $609,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,759,460.58. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.