Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $142.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of MRK opened at $123.45 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $125.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.57% and a net margin of 28.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 15,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 41.44% 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. Also, EVP David Michael Williams sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.91, for a total value of $609,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,759,460.58. This represents a 13.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. 0.09% 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,737,504,000 after buying an additional 1,859,990 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,098,196,000 after buying an additional 11,156,354 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after acquiring an additional 249,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.