Morgan Stanley Raises Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $134.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.83% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

MRK stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Thursday, hitting $127.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,671,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,382,675. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $323.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.91, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share 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 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,288,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.