Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Up 0.9% – What’s Next?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares shot up 0.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.61 and last traded at $83.51. 3,158,685 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 11,874,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.03.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.