Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 41.22% from the stock’s previous close. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Merck & Co., Inc.’s FY2024 earnings at $7.66 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $109.76 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.