Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Merck & Co., Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from twenty analysts, with one sell, thirteen hold, five buy, and one strong buy recommendations.
• The company's stock opened at $86.30, with a 52-week high of $109.17 and a low of $73.31, indicating some volatility over the past year.
• Merck reported $2.13 earnings per share in its last quarter, beating the consensus estimate by $0.10, but revenue fell short of expectations at $15.81 billion.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $104.3333.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE MRK opened at $86.30 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $109.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.35. The stock has a market cap of $215.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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