GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Sells 22,336 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• GC Wealth Management RIA LLC reduced its stake in Merck by 33.6% in Q4, selling 22,336 shares and retaining 44,077 shares valued at $4.64 million.
• Institutional investors own 76.07% of Merck with large firms (e.g., Vanguard) adding shares, while company insiders sold 320,176 shares (~$38.3M) last quarter, including sales by the CEO and CMO.
• Merck beat quarterly EPS estimates, set FY2026 guidance of 5.000–5.150 EPS, and has seen analyst upgrades to a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $128.47 (some targets raised as high as $150).

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 33.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,077 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,336 shares during the period. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DLD Asset Management LP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company's stock worth $3,986,675,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,665,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,821,766 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 15,933,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,336,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735,459 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,325,033 shares of the company's stock worth $446,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $110.13 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $125.14. The company has a market cap of $272.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $118.16 and a 200 day moving average of $107.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.57% and a net margin of 28.08%.The business's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $128.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 80,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,825,356.20. This represents a 19.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert M. Davis sold 47,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total value of $5,599,109.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,362,780.08. This represents a 9.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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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