Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was upgraded by Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $122.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $302.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $123.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 28.08% and a return on equity of 45.22%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.91, for a total value of $609,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,759,460.58. This trade represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $1,828,050.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,583,278.39. This trade represents a 41.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 109 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 global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.