Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Cut to $106.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $106.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MRK. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim cut 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 lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.52. 21,665,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,287,513. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.33 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $226.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $99.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.