Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.9%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) dropped 0.9% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $117.36 and last traded at $117.56. Approximately 1,413,462 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 8,628,749 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America decreased 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $296.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.26, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $118.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.35.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,026,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $6,077,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $479,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.