Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Lowered to $96.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MRK. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $226.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.33 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $99.58 and its 200-day moving average is $107.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

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

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 47,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,461 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 29,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 35,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.