Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Increased to $143.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target raised by Truist Financial from $142.00 to $143.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $131.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $332.31 billion, a PE ratio of 145.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’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 $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.