Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Acquires 20,715 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 248.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,052 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,715 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 14,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 23,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $124.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $307.27 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.66 and a 12-month high of $131.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $120.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.77%.

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.