Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by ExodusPoint Capital Management LP

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 83.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,907 shares of the company’s stock after selling 838,093 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $17,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,737,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,990 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after purchasing an additional 249,110 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the third quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,731,018,000 after acquiring an additional 359,486 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.2%

MRK stock opened at $115.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.46. The firm has a market cap of $284.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a PEG 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 1-year low of $76.66 and a 1-year high of $125.14.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.77%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.