Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Lowered to $115.00 at Citigroup

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $125.00 to $115.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

MRK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Guggenheim reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $89.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $226.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $99.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.33 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 47,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after buying an additional 3,461 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 29,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,933,000 after acquiring an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 35,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,534,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.