Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 20.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,559,640 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 787,181 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.18% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $382,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after buying an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,084,000 after acquiring an additional 567,900 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $123.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $125.14. The company has a market cap of $305.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS 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 company had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.41, for a total transaction of $1,184,100.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 70,615 shares in the company, valued at $8,361,522.15. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total transaction of $14,485,422.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,211,341.40. This trade represents a 63.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.13% 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.