Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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 $106.4118.

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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.

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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MRK opened at $89.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.78 and its 200 day moving average is $81.73. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $112.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.92%.

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.