Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Downgraded by TD Securities to Hold

TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. TD Securities currently has $100.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $121.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $85.71 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $85.61 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PAX Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $89,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $887,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 20,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.