Brokerages Set Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target at $114.53

Posted by on Feb 1st, 2026

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.5333.

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on MRK

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 46,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,944,000 after purchasing an additional 10,367 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 50,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,319,000 after buying an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 57,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,062,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $585,192,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $110.24 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.94. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $112.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Key Stories Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week:

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Get Free Report)

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.

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Analyst Recommendations for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

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