Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Bank of America from $118.00 to $112.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 27.31% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reissued 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $87.97 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.33 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $99.31 and its 200 day moving average is $107.00. 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 posted its 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.