Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,709,942 shares of the company’s stock after selling 372,776 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $566,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,737,504,000 after buying an additional 1,859,990 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,307,572,000 after acquiring an additional 249,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,731,018,000 after acquiring an additional 359,486 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $123.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $306.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.66 and a 1-year high of $130.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA expanded approval for Merck’s Keytruda, in combination with Pfizer’s Padcev, for use in muscle-invasive bladder cancer regardless of cisplatin eligibility, potentially expanding the market opportunity for one of Merck’s most important cancer drugs. FDA Expands MRK & PFE’s Keytruda-Padcev Combo Use in Bladder Cancer
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan, BMO Capital Markets, and Guggenheim all raised their price targets on Merck and maintained bullish ratings, signaling improved Wall Street confidence in MRK’s upside. Analyst price target updates
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary highlighting Merck as a bargain and the stock’s recent attention in the S&P 500 focus list may be adding to investor optimism around the shares. Merck (MRK) Stock Looks Like A Bargain At This Price
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also discussion of Merck’s Januvia/Janumet franchise as a benchmark in a generic drug partnership story, but this appears to be more contextual than a direct new catalyst for MRK today. Cosmos Health Accelerates Prescription Medicine Strategy…
• Negative Sentiment: Retail chatter continues to focus on Merck’s looming Keytruda patent cliff, which remains a longer-term risk even as near-term news flow is positive. SLS Vs MLTX: Retail Traders Race To Pick Merck’s Next Biotech Buyout…

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.