Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Cut to $113.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $113.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

MRK has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $96.18 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after purchasing an additional 34,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.