Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Position Lessened by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its Merck stake by 21.5% in Q4, selling 31,580 shares and ending the period with 115,101 shares worth about $12.12M.
• Other institutions significantly increased exposure — e.g., DLD Asset Management now owns 47.5M shares (~$3.99B) — and institutional ownership stands at roughly 76.07%, while insiders sold a combined 320,176 shares (~$38.3M) in the past 90 days.
• Merck beat Q4 estimates (EPS $2.04 vs. $2.01; revenue $16.40B vs. $16.19B), set FY‑2026 guidance of 5.00–5.15 EPS, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.85 (annualized $3.40, ~2.8% yield).

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,101 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,580 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. DLD Asset Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 192.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,496,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $461,335,000 after buying an additional 3,618,532 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,665,585,000 after buying an additional 2,821,766 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,735,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.6% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,937,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,896,000 after buying an additional 2,277,088 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 1.0%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $121.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $119.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.26. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $125.14.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 46.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $127.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caroline Litchfield sold 41,997 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.61, for a total value of $5,023,261.17. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 90,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,787,865.12. The trade was a 31.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert M. Davis sold 47,434 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 443,602 shares in the company, valued at $52,362,780.08. The trade was a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% 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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