Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 336,267 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,635 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $43,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. High Note Wealth LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $148.30 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.58 and a 52 week high of $156.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $365.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $131.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 4.77%.The business had revenue of $16.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 272.00%.

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

In other news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 20,784 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.43, for a total value of $2,710,857.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,569,312.29. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total value of $10,718,839.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,509 shares in the company, valued at $6,073,631.14. The trade was a 63.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 228,238 shares of company stock valued at $29,977,783. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.