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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.3750.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $96.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $240.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The business had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.80%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after buying an additional 927,621 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares during the period. DLD Asset Management LP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $2,858,570,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after buying an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.