Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price traded down 2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $96.79 and last traded at $98.2530. 15,969,699 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average session volume of 14,666,226 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.0%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.60. The firm has a market cap of $243.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% in the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.