Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 0.1% - Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $102.90 and last traded at $103.65. 3,099,263 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 8,762,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $263.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $113.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the first quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 160,226 shares of the company's stock worth $21,142,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the company's stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 189.4% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,470,000 after buying an additional 17,210 shares during the last quarter. Penbrook Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.9% in the first quarter. Penbrook Management LLC now owns 4,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 82,787 shares of the company's stock worth $10,924,000 after buying an additional 6,041 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 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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