Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shot up 1.3% on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $92.00 to $120.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Merck & Co., Inc. traded as high as $103.09 and last traded at $102.3670. 12,532,017 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 14,658,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.03.

MRK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 123,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,380,000 after acquiring an additional 3,804 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,157,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,160,000 after purchasing an additional 42,471 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 832,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,881,000 after purchasing an additional 49,541 shares during the period. Payne Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 235.9% during the third quarter. Payne Capital Management LLC now owns 13,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 9,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $529,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3%

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.18. The firm has a market cap of $254.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.