Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) were up 0.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $101.49 and last traded at $101.11. Approximately 1,232,017 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 8,820,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.80.

Read Our Latest Report on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $256.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $111.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Get Free Report)

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.

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