Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Receives $129.93 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $130.86.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of 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.

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

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $100.76 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $110.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.94. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.60 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

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.