Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.1% - Time to Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) fell 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $77.10 and last traded at $77.92. 2,362,631 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 12,437,215 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7%

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $82.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.89. The company has a market capitalization of $194.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $365,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,295 shares of the company's stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 6,824 shares during the last quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,710 shares of the company's stock worth $5,577,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 23,813 shares of the company's stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,324 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

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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