Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by SRB Corp

SRB Corp cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 463,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,067 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 3.4% of SRB Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. SRB Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $55,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased 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 last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased 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 last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing 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% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 681,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,918,000 after purchasing an additional 359,356 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Merck announced initial access plans for alimatravir, its investigational once-monthly oral HIV PrEP in Phase 3 development, and said it has signed voluntary licensing agreements covering 129 countries. That broad access strategy could support adoption in large international markets if the drug is approved. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Merck also issued a company release on the same alimatravir access plan, reinforcing that the program is moving forward and that it is trying to expand availability in regions that account for most new HIV diagnoses globally. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Traders also bought a high volume of Merck call options, which may reflect rising bullish speculation around the stock and the HIV pipeline, but it does not by itself change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Par Health launched the first generic version of Janumet XR in the U.S., which may pressure Merck’s diabetes-related sales and adds another competitive headwind for an established product. Article Title

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $131.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $323.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.30. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.66 and a 1 year high of $131.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.71.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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