GSA Capital Partners LLP Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

by · The Markets Daily

GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 107.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,809 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,871 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% during the third quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 86,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $138,343,000. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 12,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 3,878 shares during the period. Finally, Summitry LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.6% in the third quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 4,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Chirfi Guindo sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.88, for a total transaction of $2,437,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 80,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,825,356.20. This trade represents a 19.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total transaction of $14,485,422.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,916 shares in the company, valued at $8,211,341.40. The trade was a 63.82% 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 in the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.71.

View Our Latest Report on Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of MRK opened at $121.39 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $108.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.84. The stock has a market cap of $301.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $123.33.

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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 45.22%. The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.70%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

(Free Report)

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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