Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $214.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.59 and a 200-day moving average of $82.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,889,340,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $2,858,570,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.