Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) PT Raised to $143.00 at Truist Financial

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective upped by Truist Financial from $142.00 to $143.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a hold rating to a sell rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8 %

MRK stock opened at $130.10 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.56, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $126.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.24.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.