Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Rating Upgraded by HSBC

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was upgraded by HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $130.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC’s price target points to a potential upside of 25.48% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $103.60 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 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.