Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 1.1%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) traded up 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $116.77 and last traded at $116.50. 1,119,795 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 8,631,037 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays lowered their price target on 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America dropped their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $293.45 billion, a PE ratio of 128.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $118.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company's stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company's stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is 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.