KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC Sells 26,888 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 50.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,888 shares during the period. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,737,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,990 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,098,196,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after purchasing an additional 249,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,731,018,000 after purchasing an additional 359,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $130.72 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.58 and a 52 week high of $135.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $124.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.33. The company has a market cap of $322.85 billion, a PE ratio of 104.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 4.77%.The company had revenue of $16.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 272.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 6,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.38, for a total transaction of $788,799.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,272,395.06. The trade was a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David R. Maraldo sold 18,706 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.72, for a total value of $2,407,836.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,212 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,248.64. The trade was a 50.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,603 shares of company stock worth $11,966,744. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.