Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Merck by 3.4% in Q4, buying 18,574 shares to hold 557,983 shares worth about $60.75 million.
• Merck is heavily institutionally owned (about 76.07%); several large managers including DLD Asset Management, Invesco, Legal & General and Ameriprise boosted their positions recently.
• Wall Street is generally positive with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $128.47 after recent upgrades and price-target increases; Merck also beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY26 guidance of $5.00–$5.15, while paying a $0.85 quarterly dividend (2.9% yield).

Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 557,983 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 18,574 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $60,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DLD Asset Management LP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,986,675,000 after buying an additional 11,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,659,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,733,923,000 after buying an additional 1,156,112 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd 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. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.7% during the 3rd 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, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,945,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $876,600,000 after buying an additional 209,759 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, February 20th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert M. Davis sold 47,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,602 shares in the company, valued at $52,362,780.08. This trade represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief marketing officer owned 80,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,825,356.20. This represents a 19.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE MRK opened at $115.42 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 company has a market capitalization of $285.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.26. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $125.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $119.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. The firm 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%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.