Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Holdings Lowered by Homestead Advisers Corp

Homestead Advisers Corp reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 62.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 239,104 shares of the company’s stock after selling 399,300 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,456,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,145,000 after acquiring an additional 5,094,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Merck reported $2.04 EPS and $16.4B revenue, driven by strong Keytruda demand and growth in newer products; the beat underpins confidence in current cash flows. Business Wire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Large analyst upgrade: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $135 and moved to “overweight” (~14% upside vs. current levels), which likely helped buying interest today. TickerReport: Wells Fargo upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile endorsement: Jim Cramer flagged Merck as a favorite pharmaceutical name and spoke positively about its ability to “spread out the wealth,” providing retail-visible support. MSN: Jim Cramer on Merck
• Neutral Sentiment: Other price-target bumps but still “neutral” ratings — Cantor Fitzgerald and Citigroup raised targets to $120 but kept neutral stances (small upside), which offers modest support but no conviction change. Benzinga: PT raises
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call / transcripts available — management emphasized Keytruda strength and pipeline progress; transcripts provide detail for investors modeling product-by-product risk/reward. Seeking Alpha: Q4 call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious 2026 outlook pressured sentiment — management guided FY26 adjusted EPS to $5.00–$5.15 (consensus ~5.86) and revenue to $65.5B–$67.0B (below Street), which sparked earlier selling and trims near-term growth expectations. Reuters: 2026 guidance & patent concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Patent expirations and generics risk — Januvia and other drugs face loss of exclusivity this year, and management flagged that impact; investors should model increased generic pressure into FY26 estimates. CNBC: generics & guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term growth slowdown expected as Merck invests and pursues acquisitions — coverage notes management expects slower earnings growth as it spends on deals and navigates pipeline inflection points. WSJ: slower growth & acquisitions

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $118.35 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $120.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 28.08%.The company had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company’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. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

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.