MidFirst Bank Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,770,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,737,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,990 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after purchasing an additional 249,110 shares during the period. Finally, DLD Asset Management LP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MRK opened at $114.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.66 and a 52-week high of $125.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.