Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 3,941 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.1% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,590,000 after buying an additional 15,636 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.2% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $53,918,000 after buying an additional 359,356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.
Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance
Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $119.39 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.66 and a 1 year high of $125.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $116.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.68. The company has a market cap of $294.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.21. 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. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 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.
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