Merck & Co., Inc.’s (MRK) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial restated their hold rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $110.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $130.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $99.34 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $100.18 and its 200 day moving average is $110.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $251.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.