Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Up 1.5% – Here’s Why

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price traded up 1.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $102.09 and last traded at $102.08. 2,040,663 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 9,109,690 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $257.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

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

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IRON Financial LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bennett Associates Wealth Management grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. Bennett Associates Wealth Management now owns 1,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.