Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 5,900 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 396,874 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,900 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $41,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,731,000 after acquiring an additional 24,576 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,866,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.18.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total value of $1,828,050.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,583,278.39. The trade was a 41.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total transaction of $4,556,870.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at $19,368,240.08. The trade was a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $112.30 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $125.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $117.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 26.84%. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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.