Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Raised to $120.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $92.00 to $120.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

MRK has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4%

MRK opened at $100.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $250.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $90.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Plan Group Financial LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 160.7% in the first quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 7,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 4,472 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the first quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 8,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.3% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 199,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,883,000 after buying an additional 20,302 shares during the period. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 46,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,765 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 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.