Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

MRK has been the subject of several other research reports. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.34 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $214.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.59 and a 200-day moving average of $82.08.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% in the 3rd 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 during 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.