StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by Charles Blunt on Mar 19th, 2023

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. They set a buy rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $127.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, March 6th. They issued a buy rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, March 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.0 %

MRK opened at $104.10 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.63 and a twelve month high of $115.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.19 and a 200-day moving average of $102.25. The stock has a market cap of $264.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 43.47%. The company had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,312,555. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,134.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,555. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,245 shares of company stock worth $11,168,256. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Coco Enterprises LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Coco Enterprises LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. now owns 14,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Get Rating)

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.