Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 105,773 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,673 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,084,000 after buying an additional 567,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8%

MRK stock opened at $121.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $123.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.84.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.70%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the 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 owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at $19,368,240.08. This trade represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.41, for a total value of $1,184,100.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 70,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,361,522.15. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.