Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MRK. Guggenheim increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $111.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.18. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.37 and a 1-year high of $125.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.00 and a 200 day moving average of $109.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 294 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.