Abel Hall LLC Acquires 4,520 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,909 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,520 shares during the quarter. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.1% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,590,000 after purchasing an additional 15,636 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.2% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 111.7% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 681,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,918,000 after purchasing an additional 359,356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2%

MRK opened at $129.34 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $319.44 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.66 and a 52 week high of $130.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.