Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Gap Down to $127.78

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $127.78, but opened at $123.48. Merck & Co., Inc. shares last traded at $119.74, with a volume of 4,682,037 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 9.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $128.06 and a 200-day moving average of $126.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $293.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,333 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.