Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 20,072 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Prime Capital Investment Advisors trimmed its Merck stake by 37.1% in Q4, selling 20,072 shares and now holding 34,025 shares valued at about $3.58 million.
• Several large institutions aggressively increased positions (e.g., DLD added 11 million shares; Assenagon up 192.7%), leaving institutional ownership at 76.07% of Merck.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive — consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $127.59 and multiple recent price-target upgrades (Guggenheim $140, Deutsche Bank $150) after Merck posted a slight EPS beat and set FY2026 guidance of $5.00–$5.15.

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 37.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,025 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,072 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. DLD Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the third quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company's stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 192.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,496,664 shares of the company's stock worth $461,335,000 after buying an additional 3,618,532 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,844,936 shares of the company's stock worth $1,665,585,000 after buying an additional 2,821,766 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 15,933,909 shares of the company's stock worth $1,336,877,000 after buying an additional 2,735,459 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.6% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,937,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.91, for a total transaction of $609,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,759,460.58. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.41, for a total transaction of $1,184,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 70,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,361,522.15. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0%

MRK stock opened at $121.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.26. 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. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $125.14. The stock's 50 day moving average is $119.05 and its 200-day moving average is $104.48.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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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