Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 40,376 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its Merck stake by 9.5%, selling 40,376 shares and retaining 386,735 shares valued at approximately $49.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.07% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 15 Buy ratings and eight Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $147.60. Several firms recently raised their targets, including Argus to $170 and Goldman Sachs to $160.
• Merck reported quarterly revenue of $16.61 billion, ahead of expectations, while shares opened at $149.73. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share, equivalent to a 2.3% annualized yield.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 386,735 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,376 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $49,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company's stock worth $29,169,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,507 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,737,504,000 after buying an additional 1,859,990 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after buying an additional 11,156,354 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $6,307,572,000 after buying an additional 249,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company's stock worth $4,731,018,000 after buying an additional 359,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Argus boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $143.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $149.73 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.58 and a twelve month high of $156.92. The firm has a market cap of $369.41 billion, a PE ratio of 119.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 272.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 52,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.77, for a total value of $6,805,108.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,084,069.32. This represents a 62.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $1,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,942,755. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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