Truist Financial Cuts Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $130.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) had its price target reduced by Truist Financial from $132.00 to $130.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

MRK traded up $0.46 on Thursday, hitting $101.19. The company had a trading volume of 8,674,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,854,479. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $111.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.60 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company's stock worth $794,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company's stock worth $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company's stock worth $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company's stock worth $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.