Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Coverage Initiated at Citigroup

Analysts at Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 9.77% from the stock’s current price.

MRK has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $113.88. 811,875 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,179,587. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $125.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $117.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total transaction of $14,485,422.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,211,341.40. This trade represents a 63.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total value of $4,556,870.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,368,240.08. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 209,258 shares of company stock worth $25,101,593 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gould Asset Management LLC CA increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the first quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $62,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.1% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,553,000 after buying an additional 3,138 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 19,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the first quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 95,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,429,000 after buying an additional 21,752 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.