Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Cut to $132.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $143.00 to $132.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 20.61% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MRK. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $109.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,728,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,752,170. The company has a market cap of $277.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.60, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $114.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.45. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sendero Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 37,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 5,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Advocate Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 76,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 7,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.