Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,388 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,723 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,169,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,507 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during 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 grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 249,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,731,018,000 after purchasing an additional 359,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $179.00 in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total transaction of $10,718,839.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,073,631.14. The trade was a 63.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David R. Maraldo sold 18,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.72, for a total transaction of $2,407,836.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,212 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,248.64. The trade was a 50.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $148.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $131.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $365.88 billion, a PE ratio of 118.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.58 and a twelve month high of $156.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $16.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 16.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 272.00%.

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.