California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 12,537.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 484,720,247 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 480,884,635 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 19.65% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $62,286,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,169,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,507 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company's stock worth $12,737,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859,990 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company's stock worth $9,098,196,000 after acquiring an additional 11,156,354 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $148.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $1,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,942,755. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,073,631.14. The trade was a 63.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $150.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $370.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.30, a PEG ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.21. The company's 50 day moving average is $134.64 and its 200 day moving average is $123.53. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.58 and a 52-week high of $156.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $16.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 16.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 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.

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