Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Receives $107.44 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Key Points

• Merck & Co., Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with price targets ranging from $84.00 to $115.00.
• The company recently reported earnings per share of $2.13, exceeding expectations, but fell short on revenue, achieving $15.81 billion compared to forecasts of $15.92 billion.
• Merck will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share on October 7th, resulting in a dividend yield of 4.1%.

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $107.4375.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock worth $5,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 32,558 shares of the company's stock worth $2,922,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.29. The stock had a trading volume of 10,826,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,582,423. The company's 50-day moving average is $80.66 and its 200 day moving average is $84.13. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $120.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $200.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.