Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price hoisted by Scotiabank from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.98% from the company’s current price.

MRK has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of MRK traded down $1.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $100.86. 6,398,597 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,625,796. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.31. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $250.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Little House Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. 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.