Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Stock Position Lifted by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 32.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,333,289 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 327,035 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $160,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,941 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.1% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,590,000 after acquiring an additional 15,636 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.2% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 111.7% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 681,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,918,000 after acquiring an additional 359,356 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $130.86 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.66 and a 52 week high of $132.53. 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 stock has a market cap of $323.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.