Capital International Investors Has $90.60 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Capital International Investors lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 74.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 860,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,532,633 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $90,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,846,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,921,000 after acquiring an additional 434,420 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $81,000. DB&C Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $321,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 19,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares during the period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, February 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. 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 report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE MRK opened at $119.39 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $76.66 and a 1-year high of $125.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $116.56 and a 200-day moving average of $112.68. The company has a market cap of $294.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 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.