Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Lowered to $119.00 at Leerink Partners

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target cut by research analysts at Leerink Partners from $136.00 to $119.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price target indicates a potential upside of 19.20% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $99.83. 1,482,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,765,870. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.53 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 quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610,800 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,924,000 after buying an additional 2,194,463 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.