Davis R M Inc. Lowers Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Davis R M Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,404 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,850 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% in the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $123.45 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $305.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 44.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.70%.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 68,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,211,341.40. The trade was a 63.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 80,615 shares in the company, valued at $9,825,356.20. The trade was a 19.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.