Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reissued by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's target price indicates a potential upside of 31.40% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MRK. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America cut 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of MRK traded up $2.85 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $117.96. 7,772,002 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,659,201. The stock's fifty 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. The firm has a market cap of $298.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.41, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company's stock worth $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company's stock worth $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares during the period. 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.