Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Stock Bought by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Posted by Stanley Muller on Oct 25th, 2026

Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 114.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 311,151 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 166,034 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.0% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $45,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,169,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,507 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,413,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,573,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,583 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,249,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,083,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934,312 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,774,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,701,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,456,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,858,938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Merck & Co., Inc. News

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

Positive Sentiment: Merck and Moderna reported positive Phase 3 INTerpath-001 results for the personalized melanoma vaccine, intismeran, combined with Keytruda. The treatment reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 42% and also improved distant metastasis-free survival, supporting the long-term potential of the partnership’s oncology pipeline. Doctors call Moderna and Merck cancer vaccine data a major advancement
Positive Sentiment: The European Commission approved Keytruda plus Padcev as a perioperative treatment for resectable muscle-invasive bladder cancer, regardless of patients’ cisplatin eligibility. The broader label expands the addressable market and represents the EU’s first approval of a PD-1 inhibitor combined with an antibody-drug conjugate in this setting. Merck wins EU approval for Keytruda plus Padcev
Neutral Sentiment: Despite strong clinical results, the vaccine announcement triggered a “sell-the-news” reaction. The data largely met elevated Wall Street expectations after an earlier leak, limiting the immediate upside for MRK even though oncologists viewed the results as an important treatment advance. Merck and Moderna shares fall on cancer vaccine results
Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about valuation and Merck’s future revenue concentration in Keytruda ahead of its patent cliff. Analysts have also characterized the recent rally as leaving limited margin of safety, increasing the risk of profit-taking when news is merely in line with expectations. Merck rally leaves little margin of safety
Negative Sentiment: Erste Group Bank reduced its FY2026 EPS estimate to $2.63 from $2.73 and its FY2027 estimate to $9.38 from $9.47. Separate previews also anticipate a year-over-year decline in quarterly earnings, adding near-term pressure to the shares. Merck earnings preview

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Maraldo sold 18,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.72, for a total value of $2,407,836.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,248.64. This represents a 50.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total transaction of $10,718,839.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,073,631.14. This represents a 63.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.92.

Read Our Latest Report on Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $145.25 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.01 and a 52-week high of $156.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.35 billion, a PE ratio of 116.20, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $16.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 4.77%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 272.00%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Free Report)

Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines, vaccines and animal-health products. Its pharmaceutical business focuses on oncology, infectious diseases, cardiology, immunology and other areas of significant medical need. The company serves patients, healthcare providers and institutions in markets worldwide.

Merck’s principal products include Keytruda, an immunotherapy used to treat a range of cancers; Gardasil and Gardasil 9, vaccines that help protect against human papillomavirus; and Januvia and Janumet, medicines used to manage type 2 diabetes.