Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Holdings Increased by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,177 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,628 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 289,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 71,528 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 8,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 3,715 shares during the period. BNB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $210,000. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 2,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 19,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $127.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.08.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $149.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.46 billion, a PE ratio of 154.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.52 and a beta of 0.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $82.01 and a one year high of $156.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.33 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 20,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.43, for a total transaction of $2,710,857.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,569,312.29. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total transaction of $10,718,839.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,073,631.14. This represents a 63.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q3 results and raised outlook: Merck reported adjusted earnings of $2.49 per share versus the $2.09 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 4.7% year over year to $18.09 billion, ahead of estimates. Management raised its 2026 sales and adjusted-profit outlook, providing the main catalyst for the stock’s advance. Merck tops quarterly estimates and hikes profit outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Growth beyond Keytruda: Keytruda, including the newer Qlex formulation, delivered stronger-than-expected sales, while WINREVAIR continued to expand rapidly. Newer product launches are helping offset losses from generic competition and support Merck’s growth outlook. Merck Q3 earnings call highlights pipeline progress and raised outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Pipeline progress: Positive Phase 3 endometrial-cancer data for Keytruda and sacituzumab tirumotecan, along with FDA priority review for the latter, strengthens confidence in Merck’s oncology pipeline and its ability to address future revenue pressure. Merck Phase 3 endometrial cancer data and FDA review
• Positive Sentiment: Supportive analyst action: Guggenheim raised its price target to $171 and maintained a buy rating, indicating additional potential upside based on the earnings and pipeline outlook.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines, vaccines and animal-health products. Its pharmaceutical business focuses on oncology, infectious diseases, cardiology, immunology and other areas of significant medical need. The company serves patients, healthcare providers and institutions in markets worldwide.

Merck’s principal products include Keytruda, an immunotherapy used to treat a range of cancers; Gardasil and Gardasil 9, vaccines that help protect against human papillomavirus; and Januvia and Janumet, medicines used to manage type 2 diabetes.