CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 16,094 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 392,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,094 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $32,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 76,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,407,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 47,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,991,000 after purchasing an additional 6,082 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 207,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,444,000 after buying an additional 18,187 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after buying an additional 7,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after buying an additional 13,940 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, February 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.81.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $114.17 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.44. 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 stock has a market cap of $282.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.27. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 46.70%.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $1,828,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,583,278.39. The trade was a 41.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,361,522.15. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 over the last 90 days. 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.