Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 9,467 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,467 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. United Financial Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. High Note Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $115.10 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.66 and a 1 year high of $125.14. The company has a market cap of $284.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.32 and a 200 day moving average of $113.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.77%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.