Royal Bank of Canada Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,190,085 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 381,742 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.53% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $1,388,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.1% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,590,000 after purchasing an additional 15,636 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.2% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 111.7% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 681,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,918,000 after purchasing an additional 359,356 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, February 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $115.10 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.66 and a 52-week high of $125.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $284.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $116.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.77%.

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.