Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Buys 70,550 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19,435.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 70,913 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,550 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% in the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Financial Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3%

MRK stock opened at $115.65 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $125.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.27.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.57% and a net margin of 28.08%.The business had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. 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 anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $1,828,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,197 shares in the company, valued at $2,583,278.39. This trade represents a 41.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 12.40% 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 worth $38,281,735 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.09% 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.