Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Position Cut by Raleigh Capital Management Inc.

Posted by Stanley Muller on Oct 31st, 2026

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,147 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the second quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 13,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Somerset Trust Co boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 8,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Williams sold 52,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.77, for a total value of $6,805,108.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,069.32. This represents a 62.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $10,718,839.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,509 shares in the company, valued at $6,073,631.14. This trade represents a 63.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.08.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MRK

Key Merck & Co., Inc. News

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

Positive Sentiment: Strong Q3 results and raised outlook: Merck reported adjusted earnings of $2.49 per share versus the $2.09 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 4.7% year over year to $18.09 billion, ahead of estimates. Management raised its 2026 sales and adjusted-profit outlook, providing the main catalyst for the stock’s advance. Merck tops quarterly estimates and hikes profit outlook
Positive Sentiment: Growth beyond Keytruda: Keytruda, including the newer Qlex formulation, delivered stronger-than-expected sales, while WINREVAIR continued to expand rapidly. Newer product launches are helping offset losses from generic competition and support Merck’s growth outlook. Merck Q3 earnings call highlights pipeline progress and raised outlook
Positive Sentiment: Pipeline progress: Positive Phase 3 endometrial-cancer data for Keytruda and sacituzumab tirumotecan, along with FDA priority review for the latter, strengthens confidence in Merck’s oncology pipeline and its ability to address future revenue pressure. Merck Phase 3 endometrial cancer data and FDA review
Positive Sentiment: Supportive analyst action: Guggenheim raised its price target to $171 and maintained a buy rating, indicating additional potential upside based on the earnings and pipeline outlook.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $149.75 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.01 and a 12-month high of $156.92. The company has a market cap of $369.46 billion, a PE ratio of 154.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.33 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 3.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.80 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

(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.