Merck & Co., Inc. Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 101,000 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 151% compared to the typical volume of 40,214 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.47.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GGM Financials LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Jag Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 201,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,893,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.4% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Finally, Abbot Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the third quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 36,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,104,000 after buying an additional 2,811 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded up $4.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $90.91. 15,408,289 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,524,845. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve 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. The company has a market capitalization of $225.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.13.

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

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.