6,600 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Bought by Curtis Advisory Group LLC

Curtis Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Chemung Canal Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% in the third quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 76,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,407,000 after buying an additional 13,285 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 47,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,991,000 after acquiring an additional 6,082 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 207,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,444,000 after acquiring an additional 18,187 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,000 after acquiring an additional 7,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In related news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.41, for a total value of $1,184,100.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 70,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,361,522.15. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Michael Williams sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.91, for a total transaction of $609,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,759,460.58. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $122.05 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $123.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $110.66 and its 200-day moving average is $96.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.70%.

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.