Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Upgraded at Scotiabank

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Scotiabank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MRK. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:MRK opened at $92.99 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $85.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the third quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,858,570,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.