Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $6.37 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,485 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. DLD Asset Management LP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,456,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,094,088 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 192.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,496,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,335,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618,532 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 16,532,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,363,480,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,665,585,000 after buying an additional 2,821,766 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.13.

More Merck & Co., Inc. News

Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merck announced a US$6.7B acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals to add TERN-701 (an investigational oral CML therapy) to its oncology/hematology pipeline—a clear move to build revenue and R&D options ahead of Keytruda’s planned 2028 exclusivity loss. Merck Targets Post Keytruda Future With US$6.7b Terns Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: RBC reiterated an Outperform and kept a $142 price target after Merck’s Terns call, signaling sell‑side support for the strategy despite questions about the transaction premium. RBC Reiterates Merck (MRK) Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Agilent won FDA approval for the PD‑L1 22C3 companion diagnostic in esophageal/GEJ carcinoma, which can help identify patients for Keytruda treatment—supportive for near‑term uptake in that indication. Agilent receives FDA approval for PD-L1 1HC 22C3 pharmDx
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) and option/trade ideas targeting MRK indicate elevated investor interest and constructive conviction in Merck as a defensive large‑cap pharma. Jim Cramer on Merck & Co.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst model tweaks are minor: Erste marginally raised FY2026 EPS estimates (from $5.12 to $5.13), reflecting limited near‑term changes to consensus earnings expectations. MarketBeat analyst update
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces note Merck has outperformed recently (stock up ~50% over six months); some articles offer tactical trade ideas (options/covered calls) that reflect market momentum rather than fundamental shifts. Merck Stock Soars 50% in 6 Months
• Negative Sentiment: Keytruda’s planned 2028 loss of exclusivity remains the central long‑term risk—analysts and articles stress patent cliff exposure and some weak vaccine sales, which temper valuation upside. Zacks: Merck Stock Soars 50% in 6 Months
• Negative Sentiment: The proposed Terns transaction may face rival interest and is the subject of a shareholder‑lawyer investigation (Kahn Swick & Foti), introducing deal execution, regulatory and legal risk that could delay or change terms. MSN: Merck’s Terns acquisition may face rival interest BusinessWire: KSF Investigation

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total value of $1,828,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,583,278.39. This trade represents a 41.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total transaction of $4,556,870.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,368,240.08. The trade was a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $119.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.65 and a 200-day moving average of $101.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.30. 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 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’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, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 46.70%.

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.