Brokerages Set Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Target Price at $133.94

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $133.9444.

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company.

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

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after buying an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,737,504,000 after buying an additional 1,859,990 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after buying an additional 11,156,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after acquiring an additional 249,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,946,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,731,018,000 after acquiring an additional 359,486 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $131.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.66 and a 1 year high of $131.74. The stock has a market cap of $323.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $121.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 95.77%.

More Merck & Co., Inc. News

Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merck announced initial access plans for alimatravir, its investigational once-monthly oral HIV PrEP in Phase 3 development, and said it has signed voluntary licensing agreements covering 129 countries. That broad access strategy could support adoption in large international markets if the drug is approved. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Merck also issued a company release on the same alimatravir access plan, reinforcing that the program is moving forward and that it is trying to expand availability in regions that account for most new HIV diagnoses globally. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Traders also bought a high volume of Merck call options, which may reflect rising bullish speculation around the stock and the HIV pipeline, but it does not by itself change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Par Health launched the first generic version of Janumet XR in the U.S., which may pressure Merck’s diabetes-related sales and adds another competitive headwind for an established product. Article Title

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.