Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $134.58.

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $117.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,772,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,658,794. The stock has a market cap of $298.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50-day moving average price is $118.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $677,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company's stock worth $8,026,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 94,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,318,000 after acquiring an additional 18,679 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.