Guggenheim Reaffirms Buy Rating for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Guggenheim restated their buy rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $115.00 target price on the stock.

MRK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $77.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.64 and a 200-day moving average of $96.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.93 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 48.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,408,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550,824 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,151,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.