SageView Advisory Group LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,696 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,285 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% in the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% during the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $117.14 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $125.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $289.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.27.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.57% and a net margin of 28.08%.The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue 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 fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.41, for a total value of $1,184,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 70,615 shares in the company, valued at $8,361,522.15. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total value of $1,828,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,197 shares in the company, valued at $2,583,278.39. This represents a 41.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.