Little House Capital LLC Acquires 11,861 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Little House Capital LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 87.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,476 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,861 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.94.

Key Headlines Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approval of LIPFENDRA gives Merck its first oral PCSK9 inhibitor, opening a new revenue stream in cardiovascular care and strengthening its non-oncology portfolio. Reuters article on FDA approval
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted continued oncology pipeline progress, including FDA acceptance of multiple regulatory filings and Merck’s broader effort to offset the eventual 2028 Keytruda patent cliff. Seeking Alpha article on pipeline expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage also noted that Lipfendra’s launch is expected soon and that the drug could become a major product over time, though sales will depend on uptake, pricing, and competition from existing cholesterol therapies. Zacks article on Lipfendra launch
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a rumor that Merck may be in a takeover battle for genomics company Personalis, but this appears speculative and is not confirmed. Yahoo Finance article on Personalis rumor

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $127.47 on Friday. 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 $131.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.94. The company has a market cap of $314.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.91, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.19.

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. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

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.