Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Still a Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report)’s share price rose 1.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $101.25 and last traded at $100.61. Approximately 2,472,970 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 8,989,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $106.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.34. The stock has a market cap of $260.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(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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