Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Daiwa Capital Markets

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was downgraded by research analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $98.54 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.50 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.73. The firm has a market cap of $249.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.5% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,509,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,157,000 after purchasing an additional 435,308 shares during the period. Rogco LP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% in the first quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 2,868,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,546,000 after purchasing an additional 121,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.