Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at TheStreet in a report issued on Monday.
The analysts wrote, “Merck (MRK) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of B . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.”
Merck & Co opened at 42.88 on Monday. Merck & Co has a 1-year low of $36.91 and a 1-year high of $48.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $42.38. The company has a market cap of $130.4 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70.
Merck & Co last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co has set its FY13 guidance at $3.60-3.70 EPS. Analysts expect that Merck & Co will post $3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Bank of America upgraded shares of Merck & Co from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Monday. Separately, analysts at Jefferies Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co from $47.00 to $46.00 in a research note to investors on Monday, February 25th. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, analysts at Credit Suisse reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merck & Co in a research note to investors on Monday, February 25th. They now have a $52.00 price target on the stock.
Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, three have assigned an overweight rating, seven have given a hold rating, and one has assigned a sell rating to the stock. Merck & Co has a consensus rating of “overweight” and an average target price of $48.57.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th.
Merck & Co, Inc. (Merck) is a global health care company that delivers health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products, which it markets directly and through its joint ventures.
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