Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Cut to $115.00 by Analysts at Guggenheim

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Guggenheim from $122.00 to $115.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 33.08% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MRK traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,923,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,725,576. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.79. The stock has a market cap of $218.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.73 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $1,480,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,756,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,710,000 after purchasing an additional 240,758 shares in the last quarter. Tepp RIA LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $527,000. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $562,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $13,319,000. 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.