Bank of America Lowers Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $112.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price trimmed by Bank of America from $118.00 to $112.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MRK. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $89.52 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $99.58 and its 200-day moving average is $107.12. The company has a market cap of $226.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. 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 52-week low of $87.33 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 47,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after buying an additional 3,461 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 29,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,933,000 after buying an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 35,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,534,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by 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.