Merck & Co., Inc.’s (MRK) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Truist Financial

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by investment analysts at Truist Financial in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $110.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $130.00. Truist Financial’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.18% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $99.84 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $252.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.23 and its 200-day moving average is $111.10. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. 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 posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 28,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,838,000 after buying an additional 2,814 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 519,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,689,000 after buying an additional 16,392 shares during the period. InvesTrust bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $891,000. Sterneck Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.1% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.