Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Given Hold (C-) Rating at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Merck & Co., Inc. has received a "hold (C-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, which was reiterated in a recent research report.
• Analysts have lowered their target prices for Merck, with Wells Fargo reducing it from $97.00 to $90.00 and Berenberg Bank downgrading the rating from "buy" to "hold" with a target price of $90.00 as well.
• Merck reported a quarterly EPS of $2.13, beating expectations, but had revenue slightly below consensus estimates at $15.81 billion.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c-)" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $86.39 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $111.58. The company has a market cap of $215.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.56.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $31,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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