Truist Financial Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by Truist Financial in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $110.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $130.00. Truist Financial’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.18% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $99.84 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.10. The company has a market cap of $252.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 28,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 519,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,689,000 after acquiring an additional 16,392 shares in the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $891,000. Sterneck Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.