Guggenheim Lowers Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $115.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective lowered by Guggenheim from $122.00 to $115.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim’s price target suggests a potential upside of 33.08% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.42. 1,923,238 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,725,576. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.79. The stock has a market cap of $218.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.73 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the third quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 7,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,525,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.