Private Advisor Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Private Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 273,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,783 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $32,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.4% during the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 10,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 1,182,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,204,000 after buying an additional 385,150 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.9% in the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,099,000 after buying an additional 60,846 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 14,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,736,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 35,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,267,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $129.34 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $76.66 and a one year high of $130.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $117.37 and a 200 day moving average of $115.36. 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 $319.44 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. 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 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.77%.

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.