Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price traded up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $98.38 and last traded at $97.75. 2,288,083 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 8,937,311 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $250.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.