Guardian Capital LLC Buys Shares of 4,796 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Guardian Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,731,000 after buying an additional 24,576 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 97,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,296,000 after buying an additional 32,114 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,364,000 after buying an additional 13,940 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.9% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 347,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,181,000 after buying an additional 99,074 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $1,866,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of MRK opened at $111.36 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $116.00 and its 200 day moving average is $109.21. The company has a market capitalization of $275.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.18. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.37 and a 12-month high of $125.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. Research analysts expect 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.