HBW Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

HBW Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,208 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after buying 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% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,590,000 after buying an additional 15,636 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.2% during the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 111.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 359,356 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Merck & Co., Inc. News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA expanded approval for Merck’s Keytruda, in combination with Pfizer’s Padcev, for use in muscle-invasive bladder cancer regardless of cisplatin eligibility, potentially expanding the market opportunity for one of Merck’s most important cancer drugs. FDA Expands MRK & PFE’s Keytruda-Padcev Combo Use in Bladder Cancer
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan, BMO Capital Markets, and Guggenheim all raised their price targets on Merck and maintained bullish ratings, signaling improved Wall Street confidence in MRK’s upside. Analyst price target updates
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary highlighting Merck as a bargain and the stock’s recent attention in the S&P 500 focus list may be adding to investor optimism around the shares. Merck (MRK) Stock Looks Like A Bargain At This Price
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also discussion of Merck’s Januvia/Janumet franchise as a benchmark in a generic drug partnership story, but this appears to be more contextual than a direct new catalyst for MRK today. Cosmos Health Accelerates Prescription Medicine Strategy…
• Negative Sentiment: Retail chatter continues to focus on Merck’s looming Keytruda patent cliff, which remains a longer-term risk even as near-term news flow is positive. SLS Vs MLTX: Retail Traders Race To Pick Merck’s Next Biotech Buyout…

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $123.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $306.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.50. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.77%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.