Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $1.16 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 52.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,380 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $4,263,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares during the period. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after buying an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $1,980,084,000 after buying an additional 567,900 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $121.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $301.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.28. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $123.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 45.22% 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 46.70%.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.88, for a total value of $2,437,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 80,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,825,356.20. The trade was a 19.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert M. Davis sold 47,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total value of $5,599,109.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 443,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,362,780.08. This trade represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.