Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target Lowered to $136.00 at UBS Group

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price cut by investment analysts at UBS Group from $142.00 to $136.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 23.32% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded up $1.76 on Wednesday, hitting $110.28. 8,623,781 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,783,756. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.32 billion, a PE ratio of 122.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $114.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $724,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.