Citigroup Trims Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Target Price to $130.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target reduced by analysts at Citigroup from $140.00 to $130.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 24.56% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $104.37. 4,490,044 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,770,660. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $113.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.80 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.