Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Receives $116.39 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $117.12.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 11,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.0 %

MRK opened at $94.72 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.78. The company has a market capitalization of $239.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.