Truist Financial Cuts Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $130.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $132.00 to $130.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 28.69% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $111.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.