Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 0.8%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price fell 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $127.18 and last traded at $127.29. 1,102,873 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 8,177,867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $126.49 and its 200 day moving average is $116.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after buying an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,108,366,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,632,255,000 after buying an additional 1,696,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.