Leonteq Securities AG Invests $14.62 Million in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 138,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,624,000. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.4% of Leonteq Securities AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew 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 last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew 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 last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 347,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,181,000 after buying an additional 99,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,866,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $113.01 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year high of $125.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.92. The company has a market cap of $279.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue 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 predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.