Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Holdings Cut by Homestead Advisers Corp

Homestead Advisers Corp lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 62.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 239,104 shares of the company’s stock after selling 399,300 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% during the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Merck reported $2.04 EPS and $16.4B revenue, driven by strong Keytruda demand and growth in newer products; the beat underpins confidence in current cash flows. Business Wire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Large analyst upgrade: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $135 and moved to “overweight” (~14% upside vs. current levels), which likely helped buying interest today. TickerReport: Wells Fargo upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile endorsement: Jim Cramer flagged Merck as a favorite pharmaceutical name and spoke positively about its ability to “spread out the wealth,” providing retail-visible support. MSN: Jim Cramer on Merck
• Neutral Sentiment: Other price-target bumps but still “neutral” ratings — Cantor Fitzgerald and Citigroup raised targets to $120 but kept neutral stances (small upside), which offers modest support but no conviction change. Benzinga: PT raises
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call / transcripts available — management emphasized Keytruda strength and pipeline progress; transcripts provide detail for investors modeling product-by-product risk/reward. Seeking Alpha: Q4 call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious 2026 outlook pressured sentiment — management guided FY26 adjusted EPS to $5.00–$5.15 (consensus ~5.86) and revenue to $65.5B–$67.0B (below Street), which sparked earlier selling and trims near-term growth expectations. Reuters: 2026 guidance & patent concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Patent expirations and generics risk — Januvia and other drugs face loss of exclusivity this year, and management flagged that impact; investors should model increased generic pressure into FY26 estimates. CNBC: generics & guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term growth slowdown expected as Merck invests and pursues acquisitions — coverage notes management expects slower earnings growth as it spends on deals and navigates pipeline inflection points. WSJ: slower growth & acquisitions

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $118.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $120.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.66. The firm has a market cap of $293.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 28.08%.The business had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 44.91%.

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.