UBS Group Lowers Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $120.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at UBS Group from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.19% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2 %

MRK stock opened at $99.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $252.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.10. 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. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. 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 prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 77,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,553,000 after purchasing an additional 15,700 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP now owns 22,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.