Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $125.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $90.00. Merck & Co., Inc. traded as high as $105.84 and last traded at $105.7080, with a volume of 21978944 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.40.

MRK has been the topic of several other reports. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.06.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.01. The company has a market capitalization of $262.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $17.28 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.