Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price was down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $97.90 and last traded at $98.23. Approximately 2,187,120 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 8,846,921 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $248.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.35.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.