Dorsey Wright & Associates Purchases New Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $3,997,933,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after acquiring an additional 11,156,354 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,012,530,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $585,192,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,753,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,973,983,000 after purchasing an additional 5,152,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.94.

More Merck & Co., Inc. News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approval of LIPFENDRA gives Merck its first oral PCSK9 inhibitor, opening a new revenue stream in cardiovascular care and strengthening its non-oncology portfolio. Reuters article on FDA approval
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted continued oncology pipeline progress, including FDA acceptance of multiple regulatory filings and Merck’s broader effort to offset the eventual 2028 Keytruda patent cliff. Seeking Alpha article on pipeline expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage also noted that Lipfendra’s launch is expected soon and that the drug could become a major product over time, though sales will depend on uptake, pricing, and competition from existing cholesterol therapies. Zacks article on Lipfendra launch
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a rumor that Merck may be in a takeover battle for genomics company Personalis, but this appears speculative and is not confirmed. Yahoo Finance article on Personalis rumor

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE MRK opened at $127.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.94. The company has a market capitalization of $314.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.19. 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. has a 12 month low of $76.66 and a 12 month high of $131.74.

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 firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. 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.