BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $105.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $136.00.
MRK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.13.
View Our Latest Stock Report on MRK
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.05. 29,272,893 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,418,368. The company has a market cap of $248.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 64.57%.
Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.
About Merck & Co., Inc.
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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