Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 4,279 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,279 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $34,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,731,000 after purchasing an additional 24,576 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 97,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,296,000 after purchasing an additional 32,114 shares in the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 252,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,543,000 after acquiring an additional 28,635 shares in the last quarter. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 95.2% during the fourth quarter. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP now owns 23,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 11,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,301,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,022,000 after buying an additional 320,143 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $131.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.71. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.66 and a 52-week high of $131.74. The company has a market cap of $323.68 billion, a PE ratio of 36.92, a PEG ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.19. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 95.77%.

Key Stories Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

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

• Positive Sentiment: Merck announced initial access plans for alimatravir, its investigational once-monthly oral HIV PrEP in Phase 3 development, and said it has signed voluntary licensing agreements covering 129 countries. That broad access strategy could support adoption in large international markets if the drug is approved. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Merck also issued a company release on the same alimatravir access plan, reinforcing that the program is moving forward and that it is trying to expand availability in regions that account for most new HIV diagnoses globally. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Traders also bought a high volume of Merck call options, which may reflect rising bullish speculation around the stock and the HIV pipeline, but it does not by itself change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Par Health launched the first generic version of Janumet XR in the U.S., which may pressure Merck’s diabetes-related sales and adds another competitive headwind for an established product. Article Title

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.