Burford Brothers Inc. Buys New Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 9,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 14,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Payne Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Payne Capital LLC now owns 10,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 12,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Guggenheim increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $111.36 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.37 and a 12-month high of $125.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The business’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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current 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.