6,600 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Purchased by Curtis Advisory Group LLC

Curtis Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in 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 during the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 567,900 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 160,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,368,240.08. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Michael Williams sold 5,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.91, for a total transaction of $609,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,838 shares in the company, valued at $3,759,460.58. The trade was a 13.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2%

MRK opened at $122.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $302.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $123.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors 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 payout ratio is 46.70%.

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.