Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,753 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,019 shares during the quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% during the first quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 21,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.4% in 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 during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.3% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 385,150 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.9% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,099,000 after purchasing an additional 60,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 14,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $129.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.66 and a 52-week high of $130.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company’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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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.