Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Lowered to $132.00 at Truist Financial

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective dropped by Truist Financial from $143.00 to $132.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.66% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $109.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.56, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,587 shares during the last quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc now owns 3,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 49,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 170,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,383,000 after purchasing an additional 28,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 16,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,882,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.