Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.13.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 32,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,056,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 162,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,961 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,095,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,597,000 after buying an additional 44,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,569.7% during the second quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 32,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,002,000 after buying an additional 30,390 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $99.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. 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 one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $102.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.