Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading 1% Higher – What’s Next?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price rose 1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $94.97 and last traded at $94.67. Approximately 2,261,711 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 9,949,751 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.78. The company has a market capitalization of $239.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal 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 stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.