Atria Investments Inc Has $15.08 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Atria Investments Inc reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 179,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,729 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $119.24 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $107.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.28. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $122.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 28.08%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.70%.

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

In related news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Michael Williams sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.91, for a total value of $609,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,759,460.58. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.