Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 178,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,658 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.6% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Key Headlines Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MRK opened at $123.72 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.36. The company has a market cap of $305.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.66 and a twelve month high of $130.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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