Caprock Group LLC Buys New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 63,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,332,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% in the 2nd 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. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,332,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,419,000 after buying an additional 91,199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $119.24 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $295.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $107.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.93. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $122.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 45.22%. The business had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Guggenheim boosted their target price 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. UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total value of $4,556,870.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at $19,368,240.08. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total value of $14,485,422.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 68,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,211,341.40. The trade was a 63.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.