Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Up 3.6%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) rose 3.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $128.49 and last traded at $128.21. Approximately 2,117,154 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 8,490,898 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $323.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $129.34 and its 200-day moving average is $124.55.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.