Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.

17 Dec 2025, 12:33 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 10.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 290,430 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,740 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.4% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $24,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 7,458 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after purchasing an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,930 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.00.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $98.25 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.84. The firm has a market cap of $243.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $92.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value 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. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

(Free Report)