Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Main Street Financial Solutions LLC

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,309 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 24,576 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 97,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,296,000 after acquiring an additional 32,114 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,364,000 after acquiring an additional 13,940 shares during the period. Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $1,866,000. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $115.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $285.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.53. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.66 and a 1-year high of $125.14. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.