Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 322,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,524 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $33,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. United Financial Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $31,000. High Note Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

More Merck & Co., Inc. News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to calderasib (MK-1084) with Keytruda in a lung cancer indication, a sign the program may move faster and expand Merck’s oncology growth prospects. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage and recent articles highlighted Merck’s newer drugs, pipeline assets, and M&A options as potential offsets to looming Keytruda patent expiration, reinforcing the bull case for long-term growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Merck has also been drawing investor attention as a trending stock and has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past year, suggesting market confidence remains relatively strong. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Merck will participate in the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference, which could provide an update on strategy but is not itself a major business catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholders backed board nominees, pay, and auditor ratification at the annual meeting, which reduces governance uncertainty but is unlikely to move the stock much. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The main longer-term concern remains Keytruda’s eventual loss of exclusivity, which could pressure Merck’s biggest revenue driver if replacement products do not scale quickly enough. Article Title

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $118.49 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.46. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year high of $125.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.38, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business’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. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

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.