Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Up 0.2% – What’s Next?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares rose 0.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $105.00 and last traded at $104.19. 1,367,308 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,759,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $263.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.88, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,551,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 111.5% in the first quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 5,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the first quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $203,000. 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.