Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Lowered to Hold Rating by TD Cowen

TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. TD Cowen currently has $100.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $121.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $86.52 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $218.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.27 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.