Morgan Stanley Cuts Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $106.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $106.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 target for the company. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $87.26 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. 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 $87.12 and a one year 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $325,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 516,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,639,000 after purchasing an additional 33,717 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 1,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 22,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.