Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Sets New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $98.71 and last traded at $101.11, with a volume of 1939141 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $104.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on 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 Down 3.1 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $112.87 and its 200 day moving average is $121.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.