Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 0.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares dropped 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $123.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Merck & Co., Inc. traded as low as $101.31 and last traded at $101.35. Approximately 1,320,729 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 8,818,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.32.

MRK has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $112.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.04. The firm has a market cap of $256.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

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.