Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by DNB Asset Management AS

DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 27.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 950,334 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 201,907 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $100,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,731,000 after purchasing an additional 24,576 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 97,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,296,000 after acquiring an additional 32,114 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after acquiring an additional 13,940 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 347,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,181,000 after acquiring an additional 99,074 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,866,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $111.36 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.37 and a twelve month high of $125.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $116.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.18. 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. (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. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.