Brokerages Set Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) PT at $108.69

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $108.69.

Several equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Guys Formula LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% during the second quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 22,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323 shares in the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $368,000. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 20,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cora Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $81.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $129.03. The company has a market capitalization of $204.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.