Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.51% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.48.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:MRK opened at $149.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.32. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.01 and a 1 year high of $156.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.69. The stock has a market cap of $369.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 154.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $18.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $1,350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,942,755. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 11,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.63, for a total value of $1,539,939.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 110,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,501,282.21. This trade represents a 9.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 228,238 shares of company stock valued at $29,977,783 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 32,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,727,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 61,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,947,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 43,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,310,000 after buying an additional 2,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 35,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,229,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines, vaccines and animal-health products. Its pharmaceutical business focuses on oncology, infectious diseases, cardiology, immunology and other areas of significant medical need. The company serves patients, healthcare providers and institutions in markets worldwide.

Merck’s principal products include Keytruda, an immunotherapy used to treat a range of cancers; Gardasil and Gardasil 9, vaccines that help protect against human papillomavirus; and Januvia and Janumet, medicines used to manage type 2 diabetes.