Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Earns Overweight Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $155.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target indicates a potential upside of 21.55% from the stock’s current price.

MRK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $127.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $322.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $128.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.82.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.