Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Has $65.46 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 544,161 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,798 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.4% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $65,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,770,014,000 after buying an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,737,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859,990 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $9,098,196,000 after acquiring an additional 11,156,354 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,731,018,000 after buying an additional 359,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MRK traded down $1.35 on Friday, reaching $123.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,388,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,797,806. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.66 and a twelve month high of $130.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $305.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $118.83 and a 200-day moving average of $116.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.77%.

Merck & Co., Inc. News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved KEYTRUDA and KEYTRUDA QLEX, each combined with Padcev, for use before and after surgery in adults with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. This expands Merck’s flagship oncology franchise and could add to future revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Morgan Stanley slightly raising its price target and RBC Capital reiterating a Buy rating. That suggests Wall Street still sees upside despite the stock’s recent run. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Merck continues to attract investor attention thanks to strong year-to-date performance, a solid dividend yield, and a long record of dividend growth, which may support demand for the shares. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes Merck is one of the more widely watched healthcare names on Zacks, but these mentions do not appear to add any new fundamental catalyst on their own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upbeat news flow, the shares also face ongoing valuation and post-KEYTRUDA exclusivity concerns, which may limit upside if investors focus on Merck’s long-term patent risk. Article Title

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.