Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 62.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 370,936 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 142,409 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.1% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $39,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. DLD Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $585,192,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,665,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821,766 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 15,933,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,336,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,735,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $120.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $297.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.23 and a 200 day moving average of $111.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.