Merck & Co., Inc.’s (MRK) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $135.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.03% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $124.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 621,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,240,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $126.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.76. The stock has a market cap of $316.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 891.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.