Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $130.86.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $101.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.95. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $257.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 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.