Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Holdings Raised by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,383,297 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,700 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $145,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,731,000 after purchasing an additional 24,576 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 97,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,296,000 after purchasing an additional 32,114 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,364,000 after purchasing an additional 13,940 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.9% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 347,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,181,000 after purchasing an additional 99,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $1,866,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $115.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.32 and a 200-day moving average of $113.46. The company has a market cap of $284.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $76.66 and a one year high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 95.77%.

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.