Modern Wealth Management LLC Has $2.83 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck by 61.2% to 33,675 shares, a position valued at approximately $2.83 million at the end of the quarter.
• Merck beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.04 and revenue of $16.40 billion, issued FY2026 guidance of 5.00–5.15 EPS, and carries a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $125.88 price target.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.85 (annualized $3.40, ~2.9% yield; record/ex-dividend on March 16, pay on April 7), while insiders have sold about 320,176 shares (~$38.3 million) over the past 90 days.

Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 61.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,675 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,788 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company's stock worth $4,263,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares during the period. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company's stock worth $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company's stock worth $1,980,084,000 after purchasing an additional 567,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $115.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $286.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.27. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $125.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.61. 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 results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total value of $4,556,870.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,368,240.08. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $1,828,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,583,278.39. This represents a 41.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Barclays began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, February 20th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $125.88.

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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