Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) fell 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $99.36 and last traded at $99.92. 2,698,411 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 9,267,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.68 and a 200 day moving average of $114.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 3,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 92,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,402,000 after buying an additional 2,248 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 62,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,747,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Avalon Capital Management boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.5% in the second quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 8,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.