Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 1.6%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price was up 1.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $117.77 and last traded at $117.72. Approximately 1,539,358 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 8,623,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $118.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.44. The company has a market cap of $300.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.82, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.