Barclays Initiates Coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Equities research analysts at Barclays started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.91% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MRK. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $121.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.28. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $123.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.51.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 28.08%.The business had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caroline Litchfield sold 41,997 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.61, for a total transaction of $5,023,261.17. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 90,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,787,865.12. This trade represents a 31.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert M. Davis sold 47,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total value of $5,599,109.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 443,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,362,780.08. This trade represents a 9.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $299,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $259,000. WealthPoint Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $456,000. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 62,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,625,000 after acquiring an additional 23,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claris Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $656,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.