Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Lowered to $136.00 at UBS Group

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price reduced by UBS Group from $142.00 to $136.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $109.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.59 and a 200-day moving average of $123.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 353,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,151,000 after buying an additional 4,827 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 14,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 188,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,368,000 after purchasing an additional 22,077 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.