Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC Invests $882,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. High Note Wealth LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $150.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $370.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.30, a PEG ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $134.64 and its 200 day moving average is $123.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.58 and a twelve month high of $156.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $16.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 4.77%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 272.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $142.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.60.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 20,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.43, for a total value of $2,710,857.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,569,312.29. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total transaction of $10,718,839.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,073,631.14. This represents a 63.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.