CreativeOne Wealth LLC Buys 6,484 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,615 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,484 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 70,615 shares in the company, valued at $8,361,522.15. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total value of $4,556,870.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,368,240.08. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $115.85 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $125.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $286.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.27.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 44.57%. The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The company’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. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.