Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading 1.8% Higher - What's Next?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) traded up 1.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $81.03 and last traded at $80.79. 2,915,609 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 12,715,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $201.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $991,553,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,408,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.