Rossmore Private Capital Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Rossmore Private Capital lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 57,421 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,661 shares during the quarter. Rossmore Private Capital’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,737,504,000 after buying an additional 1,859,990 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after buying an additional 11,156,354 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,307,572,000 after buying an additional 249,110 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,731,018,000 after buying an additional 359,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.72.

Trending Headlines about Merck & Co., Inc.

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved KEYTRUDA and KEYTRUDA QLEX, each combined with Padcev, for use before and after surgery in adults with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. This expands Merck’s flagship oncology franchise and could add to future revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Morgan Stanley slightly raising its price target and RBC Capital reiterating a Buy rating. That suggests Wall Street still sees upside despite the stock’s recent run. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Merck continues to attract investor attention thanks to strong year-to-date performance, a solid dividend yield, and a long record of dividend growth, which may support demand for the shares. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes Merck is one of the more widely watched healthcare names on Zacks, but these mentions do not appear to add any new fundamental catalyst on their own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upbeat news flow, the shares also face ongoing valuation and post-KEYTRUDA exclusivity concerns, which may limit upside if investors focus on Merck’s long-term patent risk. Article Title

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE MRK traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $123.72. 8,388,403 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,797,806. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.66 and a 1-year high of $130.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.28. The company has a market cap of $305.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.19.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 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.