Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) PT Lowered to $125.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.11% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Berenberg Bank upped 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.91.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $113.52. The company had a trading volume of 7,850,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,481,475. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $287.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.46, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $127.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.