Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,098,353 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,624 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.5% of Strs Ohio’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $132,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Bank of America raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.2%

NYSE MRK opened at $129.34 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $117.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.27. The company has a market capitalization of $319.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.66 and a 12 month high of $130.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly 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, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 95.77%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.