Destination Wealth Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Destination Wealth Management cut its stake in Merck by 87.8% in Q3, selling 43,865 shares and leaving it with 6,123 shares valued at about $514,000.
• Merck beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.04 (vs. $2.01) and revenue of $16.4B (vs. $16.19B), issued FY2026 guidance of roughly $5.00–$5.15 EPS, and declared a $0.85 quarterly dividend (annual yield ~2.9%).
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently—including the CEO and CMO—and disclosed insider sales totalled 320,176 shares in the last 90 days, while institutional investors own about 76% of the stock.

Destination Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 87.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,123 shares of the company's stock after selling 43,865 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 3,941 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,831 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,124,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 264,814 shares of the company's stock worth $20,963,000 after buying an additional 34,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 18,926 shares of the company's stock worth $1,498,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $115.35 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.02. The company has a market cap of $285.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.27. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $125.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 44.57%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.88, for a total value of $2,437,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 80,615 shares in the company, valued at $9,825,356.20. This represents a 19.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert M. Davis sold 47,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total value of $5,599,109.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,362,780.08. This represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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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