Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,532 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $32,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,731,000 after buying an additional 24,576 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 97,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,296,000 after buying an additional 32,114 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after buying an additional 13,940 shares during the period. Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $1,866,000. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 252,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,543,000 after acquiring an additional 28,635 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Merck & Co., Inc. News

Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved KEYTRUDA and KEYTRUDA QLEX, each combined with Padcev, for use before and after surgery in adults with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. This expands Merck’s flagship oncology franchise and could add to future revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Morgan Stanley slightly raising its price target and RBC Capital reiterating a Buy rating. That suggests Wall Street still sees upside despite the stock’s recent run. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Merck continues to attract investor attention thanks to strong year-to-date performance, a solid dividend yield, and a long record of dividend growth, which may support demand for the shares. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes Merck is one of the more widely watched healthcare names on Zacks, but these mentions do not appear to add any new fundamental catalyst on their own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upbeat news flow, the shares also face ongoing valuation and post-KEYTRUDA exclusivity concerns, which may limit upside if investors focus on Merck’s long-term patent risk. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $123.72. 8,388,403 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,797,806. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $118.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.28. The stock has a market cap of $305.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.66 and a 12-month high of $130.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.