Procyon Advisors LLC Has $5.44 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,207 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,324 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,770,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,098,196,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th 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 grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 359,486 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Merck & Co., Inc. News

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. CICC Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MRK opened at $123.72 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.66 and a 1-year high of $130.29. 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 company has a market capitalization of $305.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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.