Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $105.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $136.00.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $98.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $248.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $102.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 64.57%.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,409,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. IMS Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 14,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Syntax Research Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 459.8% during the 3rd quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 12,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. SMART Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 390,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,328,000 after purchasing an additional 218,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.