Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 78.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121,911 shares during the quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased 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 valued at $60,731,000 after buying an additional 24,576 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $10,296,000 after buying an additional 32,114 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $10,364,000 after buying an additional 13,940 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.9% during the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 347,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,181,000 after buying an additional 99,074 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,866,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. 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 report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $111.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $275.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.18. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.37 and a twelve month high of $125.14. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $116.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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 company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.55%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.