VestGen Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

01 Dec 2025, 09:42 by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat Gem

VestGen Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 76.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,115 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,698 shares during the quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.0% during the first quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 13,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 19,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $341,000. Finally, Liberty Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,617.5% in the 1st quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 55,626 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.06.

Check Out Our Latest Report on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $104.63 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $105.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $259.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.81.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Free Report)

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.