HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,679,920 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,516 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $472,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. High Note Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total value 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. The trade was a 63.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David Maraldo sold 18,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.72, for a total transaction of $2,407,836.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,248.64. This trade represents a 50.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 228,238 shares of company stock valued at $29,977,783 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $142.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $150.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.58 and a 1-year high of $156.92. The stock has a market cap of $370.99 billion, a PE ratio of 120.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $134.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.53.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 272.00%.

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.