Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 0.4% – Here’s Why

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) traded up 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $101.50 and last traded at $100.43. 2,241,503 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 9,285,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $250.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.43 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $102.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.45.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IRON Financial LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 17,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.