Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by May Hill Capital LLC

May Hill Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 115.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,820 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the quarter. May Hill Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP increased 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 valued at $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,659,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,733,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,112 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,665,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 15,933,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,336,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,735,459 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $111.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $275.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.30. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.37 and a fifty-two week high of $125.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $116.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.