71 West Capital Partners Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

71 West Capital Partners bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 14,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. South Plains Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,635,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $115.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $284.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.66 and a twelve month high of $125.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.38. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. 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.